Indigenous childcare wins $120m boost to improve school results

Taxpayers will spend $120 million to provide childcare for more than 12,000 indigenous children, to improve their school results.

EXCLUSIVE: Taxpayers will spend $120 million to provide childcare for more than 12,000 indigenous children, to improve their school results. 

The latest Closing the Gap report, due for release on Thursday, will show that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are lagging behind other kids at school.

“Students who start from behind often struggle to catch up in the rest of their schooling,’’ federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said yesterday.

“These investments in early education will help bridge those gaps.’’

IndiKindi, which provides childcare in a remote Aboriginal community in Borroloola, a 13 hour drive from Darwin: Children Shonna-Lee Johnson and Leonardis Evans with educator Amanda Evans Picture: Wayne Quilliam

The federal government will today announce more than $120 million in new funding to improve early childhood education for indigenous kids.

The money will include $82 million to nearly double the Connected Beginnings program, with 27 more sites in regional and remote communities.

The program blends education, health and family services in a one-stop hub, and has lifted childcare attendance by one hour a month, on average.

Another 3500 indigenous children will be able to enrol in 20 new childcare services in remote areas.

And $2 million will be spent trialling “explicit teaching’’ methods – a back-to-basics approach to teaching – to improve basic literacy and numeracy skills for preschoolers.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are missing out on the “critical benefits’’ of childcare.

He said the money would help families ensure children are “healthy, happy and ready to thrive at school’’.