Learning advocates call for certainty

Early childhood education advocates have criticised the Coalition’s decision to review preschool funding arrangements.

The Parenthood executive ­director Alys Gagnon said the key to getting more children to attend preschool was to provide greater funding certainty.

Early childhood education advocates have criticised the ­Coalition’s decision to review preschool funding arrangements, which could pave the way for the commonwealth to withdraw ­financial support for the sector.

The industry yesterday expressed widespread dismay over the federal government’s unwillingness to enter into a longer-term funding deal, instead providing $453.1 million to extend existing arrangements for 12 months, claiming the uncertainty was a barrier to more children attending preschool.

The federal government will ask the Education Council to conduct a review of the National Partnership on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education, which governs federal, state and territory governments’ respective responsibilities regarding preschool.

Currently the deal provides 15 hours a week of free or heavily subsidised preschool for four-year-olds, with the commonwealth pitching in about a third of the cost.

But according to Education Minister Dan Tehan, who announced the review in a media release spruiking Tuesday’s record education budget, participation rates were a concern.

“Data shows that 34 per cent of vulnerable and disadvantaged children, and about 41 per cent of indigenous children, are not taking advantage of the … government funding 15 hours of preschool in the year before school,” Mr Tehan said.

“This national review will investigate the effectiveness of the national partnership, including what barriers exist to preschool participation, what policy settings would lead to improvements in outcomes for all children, particularly for vulnerable and disadvantaged and indigenous children and how can we better monitor performance.”

The Parenthood executive ­director Alys Gagnon said the key to getting more children to attend preschool was to provide greater funding certainty.

“If you don’t invest in preschool to start with, there won’t be early learning programs for vulnerable children to attend at all,” Ms Gagnon said.

“This looks like an excuse not to fund preschool in the future.”

Early Childhood Australia chief executive Samantha Page described the review as unnecessary, and said the Lifting Our Game report already provided clear strategies for increasing preschool participation across Australia.

“There is no reason to keep funding preschool on a 12-month cycle — the funding should be locked in so that jurisdictions can make decisions about service planning and infrastructure needs,” Ms Page said.

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino also questioned the purpose of the review.

“We all know that this review is code for yet more cuts to kinder funding,” he said.

The issue of preschool funding is expected to continue to play out ahead of the May election.