TAKEOVER PUSH Call for change on kids

TOWNSVILLE MP Scott Stewart has thrown his support behind calls to see the early childhood sector absorbed by state and territory education systems.

Last week, the Townsville Bulletin reported growing concerns from industry representatives who warned of an “imminent collapse” should the Federal Government abandon its rescue funding from June 28 and called for the issue to be presented to National Cabinet as a matter of urgency.

Standing by a proposal put to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2015, former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill told the Townsville Bulletin now was the time to retable the matter, which would see states and territories take over responsibility for early childhood learning.

Mr Stewart, a former high school principal said he supported the idea and would like to see it presented to National Cabinet for consideration.

“It really makes a lot of sense (but) we’d certainly need the support of the Federal Government to do that and map out the first eight years (of a child’s life) because really we’re looking at womb to grade 3,” Mr Stewart said.

“So much of that critical learning happens in those early years, gross motor skills are developing so quickly as well as learning to talk, reading and writing.

“It’s really important we strengthen those links between early learning and formalised learning, and this could be an opportunity to rethink its structure.”

Mr Stewart said there was growing evidence to support the first five years of a child’s life as critical to lifelong learning outcomes, adding that streamlining it with existing school frameworks could also break intergenerational and socio-economic barriers to learning.

“Generally it’s the lower socio-economic income families that aren’t engaging with reading or writing and those sorts of things because of their own ability,” Mr Stewart said.

“Imagine if some of these early childcare centres recognised and provided early intervention with speech pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists – all these interventions that can be life changing.”

The pandemic has shone a light on the industry’s fragility, which prompted the Federal Government to intervene with a rescue package providing centres with 50 per cent of their PRE-COVID-19 fees in addition to the Jobkeeper package. However, the funding proved imperfect given up to 30 per cent of its workforce weren’t eligible, as well as family daycares and home care providers locked out.

The Government’s said up to 86 per cent of centres surveyed said the funding helped them remain open.