Should the EC profession in NSW and Victoria be excited about the combined $15 billion promise to provide universal preschool for all four-year-olds by 2030?
Should we be excited by the Labor’s commitment to increased subsidized childcare so that Its affordable for all families?
Maybe we could be if…..
- The underlying message (even if unintended) is that ‘preschool’ programs are somehow more ‘educational’ than EC programs in childcare service;
- The NQF Review: Decision Regulation Impact Statement (2022) hadn’t recommended a change in the Regulations that would allow replacement of certificate III and diploma qualified educators for a period of up to 30 days with primary teachers?
- The NQF Review: Decision Regulation Impact Statement (2022) Should we excited to remove the ˜actively working toward provisions for FDC educators and require these educators to hold an approved Certificate III qualification prior to commencing their role in an FDC service?
- The new Training Package didn’t require educators who hold an existing Certificate 3 acquired prior to 2015 to complete a Certificate 3 bridging course before being eligible to enrol in a Diploma?
- EC educators weren’t among the lowest paid workers in Australia?
- There wasn’t a nation-wide critical shortage of EC educators and EC teachers without any sign of a coordinated plan to address this issue.
Call me cynical, but the lack of a coordinated, well-formulated plan to address all of these issues leads me to believe that everything new is old again.
Karen Kearns (M.Ed (EC) B.Ed.(EC) Grad. Dip. Ed. (Spec. Ed.)
CEO, International Child Care College