NSW budget to add extra year of education for preschoolers garners support

The massive historic addition of NSW’s extra year for preschoolers has garnered a landslide of support from Telegraph voters. Find out why.

Upon NSW’s historic announcement of rehauling preschool education, Telegraph readers have backed the government’s decision of four-year-old’s early learning.

A whopping 75 per cent of readers believe the introduction of “pre-Kindergarten” is a good idea.

The vote comes as children in NSW will get access to an extra year of early education under a historic $5.8 billion policy to introduce universal pre-Kindergarten by 2030.

The measure, set to be the biggest headline reform in next week’s budget, is designed to turn lagging education standards around and set NSW children up for higher paying jobs when they leave school.

More than $5.8 billion will be set aside over 10 years to introduce an extra year of preschool education five days per week.

The policy would put roughly 130,000 children into free pre-Kindergarten education five days a week by 2030.

The classes would not be compulsory, but a similar policy in Canada has a take up rate of more than 90 per cent.

Treasurer Matt Kean said the pre-Kindergarten policy will deliver “intergenerational” results. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

About $54 million will be spent immediately to design a model for how pre-Kindergarten will be delivered.

The government will consult with families, peak bodies and service providers to determine the best way to deliver the reform, but the preference is to deliver the classes on primary school grounds.

“This is incredible reform that will change lives and deliver enormous educational benefits for children across the state, securing a brighter future for NSW families,” Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

“We’re ensuring our youngest learners thrive by introducing a full year of preschool education before Kindergarten.”

Treasurer Matt Kean described universal pre-Kindergarten as a policy which would deliver “intergenerational results for our kids and the economy”.

Introducing universal pre-Kindergarten is specifically designed to lift the performance of NSW children at school.

It is seen by the government as the most effective way possible to fix declining education standards.

“All the evidence suggests that this is the closest you’ll get to a silver bullet when it comes to lifting our state’s education standards,” Mr Kean told The Daily Telegraph.

Government figures said the policy will also take pressure off families paying for childcare in the year before school, by increasing free preschool from three to five days per week.

More than one in five children start school “developmentally vulnerable,” according to a briefing provided to this newspaper. That rises to two in five for children that do nSSot get early education.

“This Budget is all about investing in a better future, and setting our kids up for success is priceless,” Mr Kean said.

Mum Clare Howie, with her two children Addison, two, and Isla, four, welcomed an extra year of early education. Picture: Richard Dobson

The Victorian government will also introduce its own pre-Kindergarten policy on Thursday.

In a joint statement, Mr Perrottet and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews labelled universal pre-Kindergarten as “the greatest transformation of early education in a generation”.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said pre-Kindergarten will smooth children’s transition into school and give them a “specialised year of play-based learning”.

“Universal pre-Kindergarten is something I have been working hard to bring to NSW for a number of years, having seen the benefits of it for children and families in countries like Canada,” she said.

Clovelly mum Charmaine Peterson with sons Finn, two, and William, four. She’s keen to see more women in the workforce as a result of the change. Picture: Richard Dobson

Mum Clare Howie welcomed the move because it would set kids up for success in school.

“I think it is an excellent idea, preschool is good for school readiness.

“Daycare is a pretty protected environment, preschool they emulate school by doing class work, numbers and counting, they learn to write their names, which is all really important.”

Mum Charmaine Peterson said she was paying $180 a day for her kids William, 4, and Finn, 2 and welcomed the idea of a pre-K year, but said it could be difficult to find the space.

“It was hard to get them into the same preschool,” she said.

She welcomed the government’s move because it could help more women into the workforce.

“There’s plenty of people that aren’t going back to work due to the money,” she said.