Page 2417 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 13 August 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Child care and early childhood learning is also a significant industry in its own right, providing employment for around 140,000 employees and generating revenues estimated to be over $10 billion annually.
The federal government, as does the ACT Liberal Party, understands the importance of child care and preschool education and the role it plays in a child’s development. The ACT education minister some years ago in a speech introducing the Education and Care Services National Law (ACT) Bill of 2011 famously uttered the words:
… the first five years of a child’s life do last a lifetime.
And, indeed, Ms Burch, they do. But, importantly—and perhaps what you meant by that statement—was that the first five years of a child’s life are critical in their development. I am sure the federal government also know that, and their own education department has been at pains to record and track the importance of the early childhood sector. We know it is important. So does the federal government.
As I said at the beginning of my comments, this motion is an assorted collection of notions around the subject of child care and early childhood education, well intentioned no doubt, but inappropriate in its timing when there is a Productivity Commission inquiry on this very subject currently in train. I propose we wait until the commission has reported and the federal government has responded. Then we in the Assembly and families throughout Australia will be better informed as to what the ACT needs to do to ensure quality child care and preschool education is available to all Canberra families.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (10.21): I support Ms Berry’s motion today and thank her for her ongoing passion and consideration on this and similar issues. While we can all speak to the universal acceptance that early childhood and preschool education provides incredible benefits in the life of children and their families and can cite numerous studies and research that show links to improved numeracy, literacy and socialisation outcomes later in life, the sad fact is that today we are in a situation of needing to call on the federal government to provide certainty to families and staff alike.
Early childhood education in the ACT is already an enormously valued resource. The Education and Training Directorate provides over 70 public preschools and early childhood schools, including the highly regarded and valued Koori preschool program, and there are many in the non-government sector as well.
Results in preschools that are implementing Australian development curriculum are higher levels of engagement and motivation, higher oral language skills, increased writing, increased pro-social skills, and decreased behavioural problems. And it is not just the children who are benefiting; parental engagement, both as a simple term and in the more academic sense, can be truly fostered in this environment and has been shown to support families from vulnerable backgrounds become much more willing to seek help when needed. This type of gentle early intervention for parents and families
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video