Educators welcome SA Government’s push on early preschool but hit by federal minister

A PLAN to send three-year-olds to kindy has been welcomed by educators but labelled a premature distraction by the federal Education Minister. What do you think — VOTE NOW

A plan to send South Australian three-year-olds to kindy has been welcomed by educators but labelled a premature distraction by the federal Education Minister.

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THE STATE Government’s revival of its idea to send three-year-olds to kindy has been welcomed by educators but labelled a distraction by the federal Education Minister.

Latest figures also show not all SA children are taking up the existing offer for four-year-olds to attend preschool for 15 hours a week.

Premier Jay Weatherill flagged on Thursday in The Advertiser that he wanted children to start preschool at three to improve development and long-term outcomes.

Mr Weatherill has suggested the Commonwealth fund a trial in SA but on Friday said he would “consider” going it alone if necessary.

Australian Education Union SA branch president Howard Spreadbury said an extra year of preparation for school would “pay dividends in the long-term” but more trained staff would be needed to meet increased demand.

They would also need different skills to cater for younger children. “Some of those children may not be toilet trained necessarily, or may present developmental issues at that early age,” Mr Spreadbury said. He added that Mr Weatherill’s idea was “not completely new” as Aboriginal children and those living in state care could already attend preschool from age three.

About 60 per cent of South Australian four-year-olds attend the full 15 hours of early childhood education offered each week, jointly funded by the state and federal Governments. The national average is 70 per cent.

Federal Education minister Simon Birmingham said SA’s rates “lag behind the rest of the country ... but rather than fixing this (Mr Weatherill) wants to talk about three-year-olds instead”.

Mr Weatherill argued that any room for improvement among four-year-olds “doesn’t take away from the idea of expanding into three-year-olds”.

Mr Birmingham said the State Government had put forward “no proposal and no funding to roll out this idea”.

“It’s pretty clear this has just been a ploy to take back control of the news cycle (amid reports of problems at TAFE SA),” he said.

Mr Weatherill rejected the idea the announcement was a distraction, saying he had been discussing expanding early childhood education for years.

Mr Birmingham said there was “nothing stopping” SA from offering preschool to three-year-olds.

The Tasmanian Government plans to offer 10 hours of preschool education a week to disadvantaged three-year-olds from 2020, at a cost of $10.5 million a year. The SA Government estimates sending all three-year-olds to kindy would cost about $60 million a year.