Canberra’s most needy three-year-old children are to be given access to a free program of early childhood education from the start of 2020.
Families of the children will be able to access 15 hours a week or 600 hours per year of free early childhood education.
Minister for Education and Early Child Development, Yvette Berry said research showed that the period from birth to eight years, especially the first three years, set the foundation for every child’s social, physical, emotional and cognitive development.
“This first, targeted phase will include up to 400 dedicated places for priority families in services co-located with Early Childhood Schools and other early childhood settings,” Ms Berry said.
“Eligible families for 2020 will be contacted directly to be offered the opportunity to enroll their child,” she said.
She said a key focus of the first phase would be to deliver culturally positive early childhood experiences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
“From 2020, the ACT Government will expand the hours of the existing Koori Preschool program for three- to five-year-old children to 15 hours per week,” the Minister said.
“It will also deliver a co-design process to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children receive high quality, culturally appropriate early childhood education.”
She noted that in other parts of Australia this led to outreach models like a mobile preschool.
