The Parenthood welcomes the Victorian Government’s announcement to invest in government-owned kinders if re-elected
On Monday the Victorian Government announced that, if re-elected, it will deliver $705 million to build and expand around 180 government-owned kinders as part of its $9 billion Best Start Best Life package.
“Making sure that every child in Victoria has access to affordable and high-quality early learning is a significant educational, economic and social imperative,” said Georgie Dent, the Executive Director of The Parenthood. “The Andrews’ Government plans to invest more in the early learning sector is welcome.”
"Investing in early education now and in the long-term will benefit children, support parents wanting to get back to work and stimulate the economy. It’s never been more important," said Dent.
In July, the Victorian and NSW Governments made a historic bi-partisan announcement to ensure that every child in Australia’s two most populous states has access to a year of play-based learning before starting school.
“We are seeing both Victoria and NSW not only recognise early learning reform is the right thing to do for children, it’s an astute investment in reducing the cost of living for families, increasing the workforce participation of parents, reducing inequity and boosting the state economy,” said Dent.
“However, if the workforce crisis in the early childhood education sector won’t be solved there will literally not be enough early educators to look after the children in Victoria and the rest of the country,” Dent said.
“We welcome the planned investment by the Andrew’s Government of an extra $19 million in programs to attract and retain teachers and hope to see a similar initiative for early educators,” Dent said.
“The early learning workforce is shrinking day by day. This is a problem for every other employer or organisation in Victoria and the other states and territories. If a parent can't access care, they can't access work.”
“We need to act now to stem the loss of early educators and do everything we can to attract Australians back into this profession,” said Dent.
