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When it comes to early childhood education and care, Australia lags behind other developed countries such as New Zealand, Canada, UK, Sweden and Norway.

Early childhood education policies in these countries are implemented with the desire to not only promote workforce participation, but also to create foundations for learning, enable future generations to contribute to national prosperity and create happy lives for the children of today.

In Australia, early childcare policy is implemented to encourage more parents back into the workforce rather than as a “social good”.

At the recent Early Childhood Education and Care Conference (7-8 August) held at the Crown Perth, Early Childhood Coordinator at UWA’s Faculty of Education Dr Gerardine Neylon argued that our government needs to reassess early childhood education policies.  This is so a higher quality of care and better access to education is available to families regardless of their financial standing and work conditions.

“Parents are divided into consumers of childcare for those working, and children of the poor are subsidised through various government schemes.  Australian childcare is delivered not as a public good, but so that the management and financial viability of centres is governed by market forces,” says Dr Neylon.

“Services are spread across a mix of the profit and not-for-profit sector where current pre-school fees range between $95 a day to $160 a day. Such disparities not only make early childhood unattainable by some families, but also create inconsistency in the quality of teaching and care across our centres. ”

Sweden is an exemplar of how early childhood education and care can be implemented successfully.  Swedish EDUCARE demonstrates a respectful approach to young children. The success of the system rests on a firm belief in the right of every child to be given the very best care, upbringing and education that the nation can offer.

According to recent studies 83% of Swedish children aged one to six are in pre-school, and 95% of three to six year olds are in pre-school. Wider economic benefits have also been shown: research  indicates that when children have access to quality early childhood education they can expect better school success, a decreased crime rate, less substance abuse and increased long-term employment – all positives for a society.

What then are the long-term policy solutions that could be applied in Australia?  Dr Neylon believes it should begin with the professionalisation of early year’s graduate workforce.

“Direct government funding for employment of early years staff in line with teacher pay rates, regardless of age of children of setting, is necessary.  This is crucial if quality childcare for all Australian children can be realised.”

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Siaw Chai (Marketing and Communications Officer)         (+61 8) 6488 2382