Bill Shorten pledges $1.75b kinder package to three and four-year-olds

ALL three-year-olds across the country will be given access to ­15 hours a week of preschool for the first time if Labor wins the next federal election.

ALL three-year-olds across the country will be given access to ­15 hours a week of preschool for the first time if Labor wins the next federal election.

The historic $1.75 billion investment will guarantee about 700,000 Australian children a year will be given 600 hours of subsidised preschool a year.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will unveil the new two-year ­National Preschool and Kindy Program in a speech in Melbourne today, vowing to not only ease ­­­­hip-pocket pressure on parents but boost the economy.

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Labor will today unveil a $1.75 billion package which send all three-year-olds to preschool.

He also plans to secure long-term funding to ensure four-year-olds continue to access kindergarten for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks of the year.

Mr Shorten told the Herald Sun that, should Labor form government, two years of preschool and kindergarten would be funded as the fourth pillar of the education system — taking its place alongside schools, TAFE and university.

“I’m determined to deliver on government’s most important job: handing on a better deal to the next generation,” Mr Shorten said.

“This is an economic and social reform as profound as lifting the school leaving age and opening up universal ­access to universities.”

He said the reform was a recognition of the importance of the early years of a child’s life and would give all children at least 15 years of continuous education — from the age of three to 18 years.

Mr Shorten will pitch the policy as critical to closing inequality gaps created by giving children born into low-income households the same opportunities that their peers may have.

“This isn’t just an investment in the future of our children — it’s an investment in the future productivity of our ­nation,” he said.

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Labor leader Bill Shorten said the preschool reform will bring Australia in line with Britain and China.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also announced today, that if re-elected in November, the state government would spend $5 billion on three-year-old kinder over the next decade.

The rollout would begin in 2020, with at least five hours of subsidised kinder for all Victorian three-year-olds by 2022 and up to 15 hours a week over the next decade.

The program would also be rolled out in six local government areas initially and then to a further 15 after that.

Labor projection show three-year-old kinder would be free for about a quarter of Victorian families, while the government would cover 65 per cent of the cost for higher income families - a saving of at least $3500 at a standalone kinder.

“Every parent worries about whether their child will be ready for school,” Mr Andrews said.

“With an extra year of kinder – and all the learning and play that brings – we’ll make sure they are.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is promising three-year-old kinder. Picture: AAP Image/Stefan Postles

Studies have shown that children who access quality early education achieve better results in tests throughout their schooling.

Britain, New Zealand, France, Ireland and China have all expanded their early childhood education programs to include three-year-olds.

Mr Shorten said the Morrison Government had left preschool funding in limbo, with the current funding arrangement to expire in 2019.

He said he would work in partnership with the states and territories to deliver this ­important reform, including setting enrolment and attendance targets, particularly for indigenous and vulnerable children.

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said on Wednesday the government would provide more than $440 million to states and territories in 2019.

He said he was working with the states and territories on arrangements that would focus on lifting preschool ­participation rates.