Four educators give their verdict on the NSW government’s proposal to lift the school age to six, as well as introducing another year of preschool
‘Children effectively attending for an additional year will only benefit if the service they are attending is providing quality early learning.’‘Children effectively attending for an additional year will only benefit if the service they are attending is providing quality early learning.’On Tuesday the
Children effectively attending for an additional year will only benefit if the service they are attending is providing quality early learning programs.The workforce crisis poses a significant threat to the quality of early education. Enrolments in early childhood teacher education course are declining and many early teachers choose to leave early childhood to work in a school where they can earn up to $30,000 more a year.
The NSW initiatives to improve children’s access to early education are welcome. But as these polices are rolled out the state government will need to ensure that not only are more children attending early learning services, but that the quality of these services is of the standard children need and deserve.
While I understand the merits of raising the starting school age so more children are on an even footing when they begin, the reality is that no matter how they begin, the educational experiences of our children will never be equal.
Ben Edwards is associate professor of child and youth development at the Australian National UniversityMoving the school starting age to the year a child turns six is a great improvement to the situation in NSW but only if the government will keep its early promise to provide universal free public early childhood education to all five-year-olds.