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7 August 2005
The
Early Education Federation views with alarm a report that suggests
the government’s policy of 20 hours free early childhood education
for three and four year olds at community-based services should be
axed before it is even introduced in 2007.
The
Early Education Federation includes 17 organisations involved in
early childhood education, representing kindergartens, playcentres,
full day centres, home-based providers, hospital services, special
education and providers of teacher training, as well as employers
and unions for early childhood teachers.
Organisations represented provide education to around 113,000
children.
For
decades, three and four-year-olds have had access to free or
almost-free education by trained registered teachers in
kindergartens, but, with more parents working, these have been
inaccessible to many because of their sessional hours.
Extending this funding to other community-based services staffed by
qualified and registered teachers is an initiative that was welcomed
by everyone with a commitment to education throughout the sector.
“It
will improve affordability for parents and will improve access for
many children, as well as facilitating the development of more
community-based services” says Early Education Federation secretary
Helen Baxter.
The
Early Education Federation is also alarmed by a suggestion in the
same report that the move towards a fully qualified workforce should
be watered down.
By
2012, all regulated teachers in early childhood services will need
to be qualified with a teaching diploma. “All the evidence suggests
qualifications are linked to quality” says Ms Baxter.
For
this reason, most centres are taking advantage of the generous
government support and the flexible education options provided to
upgrade staff qualifications.
“Parents would not want their children taught by unqualified
teachers in schools” says Ms Baxter. “Why should younger and more
vulnerable children, often in centres for longer hours, be
considered inferior to school-age children?”
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