The Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, Yvette Berry has set a goal of 15 hours of free education a week for the ACT’s three-year-olds as part of her ACT Early Childhood Strategy.
Ms Berry said that well-established research had shown that the period from birth to eight years, and especially the first three years, set the foundation for every child’s social, physical, emotional and cognitive development.
She cited the recent Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools through Early Childhood Interventions: Lifting Our Game which recommended Australian Governments progressively implement universal access to 600 hours per year of a quality early childhood education program.
“The ACT Government has accepted the overwhelming evidence cumulating in this recommendation and decided in-principle that a plan for incremental implementation of free, universal quality early childhood education should be a key part of the ACT Early Childhood Strategy,” Ms Berry said.
“This policy objective clearly comes with a financial cost and its incremental implementation will require careful design of a model that is affordable, sustainable, but more importantly, keeps the right focus.”
She said just as with school education, early childhood education needed to be focused on helping each child gain a strong start, with Government funding flowing to the greatest extent to achieving learning and development.
“For this reason the Government will be shaping the design of this policy around a non-commercial model in the same way we approach school education,” the Minister said.
“Over the coming months I will have a conversation with parents, the early childhood education sector, schools and the wider community about how, and therefore when, the Government will be able to make this vital education opportunity universally available.”
