School for kids aged 3

Labor’s $1.75b plan to aid early education

CHILDREN as young as three will be heading to preschool under a $1.75 billion plan to be announced by federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten today.

It will have up to 340,000 Australian three-year-olds get 15 hours of education a week at preschool subsidised by the Government from 2021.

Currently, 15 hours a week of preschool for four-year-olds is funded by the Federal Government under an agreement being rolled over a year at a time.

Mr Shorten said, if elected, Labor would lock in $1.75 billion in funding over three years to ensure that all three and fouryear-olds were guaranteed a preschool education.

“Under Labor, two years of preschool and kindergarten will be funded as the fourth pillar of our education system, taking their rightful place alongside schools, TAFE and university,” he said. “This reform will see two years of early childhood education permanently embedded into our education system, in recognition of the importance of the early years of a child’s life.”

Under the plan, Labor will work with state and territory governments to set enrolment and attendance targets.

The three years of funding would begin from 2019-20, initially covering the continuation of the existing program for four-year-olds before extending to include three-yearolds from 2021.

It will mean Australian children will be able to access 15 years of continuous, free schooling.

“Our investment will help close the gaps created by disadvantage, it will help tackle the inequality faced by children born into low-income households who are currently denied educational opportunities that their peers may have,” Mr Shorten said.

Preschool enrolment for four-year-olds has increased from 77 per cent nationally in 2008, when the subsidy was first introduced, to about 97 per cent.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows about 75 per cent of four-year-olds in Australia enrolled don’t attend the full 15 hours they are entitled to. Attendance rates in Queensland were stronger, with 86 per cent of students showing up for the full 15 hours.

Former education minister Simon Birmingham had been considering a push from some states to extend preschool for three-year-olds, but said he wanted better attendance levels first.

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