More university places for early childhood education teachers
Media Release
Hon Greg Combet AM MP
Federal Member for Charlton
Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science
Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change
19 October 2009
The Member for Charlton, Greg Combet, today welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard and the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Child Care and Youth, Kate Ellis, of the funding of 20 additional places in early childhood education teaching at the Avondale College, Cooranbong.
Mr Combet said the extra places will be available from 2010and help meet the demand for degree-qualified early childhood education teachers.
“A well-qualified workforce is the backbone of a quality early childhood education and care system. The allocation of the places shows the Australian Government’s commitment to high-quality early childhood education and addressing workforce shortages in national priority areas.”
“The new places form part of the Government’s $126.6 million package of initiatives announced last year, to train and retain a high-quality early childhood education and child care workforce,” Mr Combet said.
The additional university places will also support the Government’s commitment to provide access to a quality early childhood education program for all children by 2013 delivered by a university trained early childhood teacher, for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year, in the year before formal schooling (often referred to as ‘preschool’ or ‘kindergarten’).
Importantly, the introduction of a student-centred funding system for higher education places means that from 2012 there will be no limit on the number of new undergraduate Commonwealth supported early childhood education places that can be offered by public universities.
In addition to these election commitments, the Government is working with states and territories to develop a National Early Years Workforce Strategy as a blueprint for attracting, retaining and training early childhood professionals.
The Government is also working with states and territories to improve the overall quality and access to early childhood education and child care through the National Quality Agenda, comprising: strong national quality standards for early childhood education and care; a quality rating system to drive continuous improvement and provide parents with information about the quality of learning and care; enhanced regulatory arrangements; and a national Early Years Learning Framework.
For more information about the National Early Years Workforce Strategy, the National Quality Agenda and the Early Years Learning Framework you can visit deewr.gov.au/earlychildhood.