Backflip over school starting age

THE State Government has scrapped its controversial plan to lower the school starting age and will instead look to introduce an additional year of preschool for vulnerable children by 2020.

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff, left, announced the backflip on the Government’s plan to allow children to start prep at 4½ years on social media late last night.

The plan, first flagged as compulsory in 2014 and made optional last August, was included in the new Education Act that will be considered by the Legislative Council in coming weeks.

But Mr Rockliff said in the video on social media last night that the school starting age would remain at 5 years for prep students, following the findings of the Government’s implementation report.

“An implementation report has now been prepared which has provided a deep insight into the early childhood education and care sector in Tasmania,” Mr Rockliff said.

“Because of this report, the Government has made a decision to provide earlier access to play-based learning in a different way through providing the opportunity of an additional year of preschool to Tasmanians children who are vulnerable to disadvantaged.”

He said the new plan would be brought in by 2020 and be delivered in partnership with the early childhood and care sector. He said there would also be free access to preschool programs for eligible threeyear-old children.

“The program will be funded by the redirection of some of the funds currently set aside for implementing the earlier voluntary starting age,” Mr Rockliff.

“We have always said we would not implement earlier access to prep or kindergarten until we fully understood the social and economic impacts on existing early education and care providers.”

The Government wanted to bring Tasmania into line with other states by lowering the school starting age and had argued the change would help improve retention and attainment rates.

The decision came just two days after EMRS polling found 76 per cent of the 1000 Tasmanians surveyed opposed lowering the voluntary school starting age.

Labor education spokeswoman Michelle O’Byrne said the scrapping was most likely due to the polling.

“I don’t think I have seen a more monumental backflip but we’re pleased, it’s a fantastic result,” Ms O’Byrne said.

“We have always said why don’t we have conversations with the sector first? There are a myriad of ways we can address the problem of engagement. Our argument has always been there are key parts of the education system that we need to look at ... not just one answer.”

She said there would need to be lengthy conversations about who would be eligible for the Government’s substitute plan.

United Voice Tasmania secretary Jannette Armstrong said it was pleasing that the Government had finally listened to the experts and practitioners on the issue.

THE easiest thing to do when a government or political party changes tack is to go on the attack, accuse it of weakness and bowing to political pressure.

But you can’t always have it both ways.

You can’t demand a government listen to the community and then deride it when it does just that.

The State Government’s movement in the education space under minister Jeremy Rockliff has been significant.

Anyone who listened to the transformational journey undertaken by New Norfolk student Britney Nelson during a recent Underwood Centre symposium, all because her local school decided to extend her subjects to Year 12, could not help but be moved.

It has changed her life and given her options she never knew she had.

The shift to Year 12 is vital for our state and needs to be embraced and expanded, and the links with university and higher education fostered and cultivated.

But the Government has had a significantly more difficult journey in convincing the community of its desire to lower the school starting age.

The early childhood sector has mobilised a strong campaign against the issue and, in a week of poor polls for the Government, United Voice commissioned polling by EMRS that found 76 per cent of 1000 Tasmanians surveyed opposed lowering the voluntary school starting age.

Mr Rockliff announced on Facebook last night that the State Government would scrap its plan to

It no doubt realised it was doing so in the face of ..an Upper House that likely had little or no intention of ever letting the changes see the light of day ...

lower the school starting age and would instead look to implement an additional year of preschool for vulnerable children by 2020.

Mr Rockliff said the school starting age would remain at 5 years for prep students following the findings of the Government’s implementation report.

He said the new plan would be implemented by 2020 and delivered in partnership with the early childhood and care sector, adding there would also be free access to preschool programs.

The Government had wanted to bring Tasmania into line with other states by lowering the school starting age and had argued the change would help improve retention and attainment rates.

But it no doubt realised it was doing so in the face of increasing community angst, concerning polls and, in reality, an Upper House that likely had little or no intention of ever letting the changes see the light of day in the first place.

The one criticism would be that if the as-yetunseen results of the report, prepared by KPMG, recommended the changes should not go ahead, then the Government should have sought this advice from the outset.

Labor will play hard on the backflip but will be forced to support the decision.

It will no doubt greet the news with mixed feelings. On the one hand, delighted the Government has acted on something on which it has been actively campaigning — but also disappointed that Mr Rockliff has removed one of the key targets it had hoped to run with in the lead-up to the next election ... whenever that might be.