We know from research children benefit from two years of preschool, rather than one. Universal access to preschool would also return benefits to the economy, and help parents with childcare costs.
Many early education and care workers earn little above the minimum wage.
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Valuing the skills and contributions of our educators and reversing the high rates of turnover is critical and can only be achieved through fair pay and rewards.
By the time children are five, they should show preference for a particular hand and be able to work with others.
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Overall, we’ve seen huge improvements, particularly for children aged three to five years, but now we need a universal approach to quality education and care for our youngest children.
At the tertiary level, Australian households and international students contribute more than double the OECD average expenditure.
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Poor childhood conditions, such as exposure to poverty and stunting, are associated with long-term disadvantages to health, education, social adjustment and earnings.
Early childhood educators are paid below the national average.
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Paula McDonald, Queensland University of Technology; Karen Thorpe, Queensland University of Technology, and Susan Irvine, Queensland University of Technology
Research shows early childhood educators tend to prop up their low-paid jobs using their household income, or by borrowing from families.
The shadow minister for early education, Kate Ellis, said child care costs had undergone a ‘massive increase’ since the last federal election.
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Labor’s shadow minister for early education, Kate Ellis, said there has been a massive increase in child care costs under the Coalition government. Is that an accurate reflection of the data?
What children learn in their first 2000 days of life is the most vital, so early learning shouldn’t be dismissed as babysitting.
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The reorganisation of federal ministerial portfolios this week moved early childhood education and care from social services to education. This is a good thing.
Cuts to funding in education and research shows a lack of planning for the future.
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You could be forgiven for thinking that education was left largely untouched in Tuesday’s federal budget. But the tinkerings to last year’s education budget still mean a “fail” for education funding.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pointed to Canada as the best model of early learning, but he doesn’t understand the full benefit.
AAP
Most people have heard that Finland leads the world in education, but fewer have heard that Finland’s neighbour, Sweden, is the international leader in early childhood education and care.
The Productivity Commission’s report on childcare will help inform the Abbott government’s soon-to-be-unveiled ‘families package’.
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Many of the Productivity Commission’s proposals derive from assumptions that the funding of these services should ensure minimal interference, with a classic, market-based model for meeting “demand”.
The Productivity Commission’s focus is less on quality early learning and more about where to put the kids while the folks are at work.
AAP
The long-awaited report to government by the Productivity Commission on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning is a disappointment for the sector. The report ignored what leading experts in education and…
Means-testing the child care rebate means some families are paying twice since their taxes already support education.
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Recent media reports suggest that the Productivity Commission into Child Care and Early Childhood Learning will recommend that the simplified single-payment child-care rebate is means-tested. This is not…