When childcare and kindergarten collide
May 2nd, 2007
In the Victorian State Budget announced yesterday the treasurer announced a commitment of $10 million dollars over 4 years to improve access to kindergarten for all children. The solution:
“This funding will provide the opportunity for four year olds at childcare to benefit from kindergarten programs, and encourage kindergartens to offer extended hours which are more convenient for working parents”
This policy approach is a confusing one. Are the Victorian government trying to make childcare centres more like kindergartens or kindergartens more like childcare centres?
I would argue this is a clear example that reform is now needed in early childhood services. The old kindergarten vs childcare dichotomy doesn’t hold in a policy environment that argues for us to support the development of children for 0 - 6 years. We need a dynamic system that incorporates tertiary trained early childhood development teachers working in early childhood development centres that cater for all children before school age.
The issue, as usual, is federalism. States have control over kinders, while the Federal government looks after childcare. The Council of Australian Governments has done some splendid work around human capital, specifically related to children and it is time they knocked heads again and sorted out a national early childhood development system - not a framework or set of guidelines, but an actual system that embraces the hub and spoke and partnership models to provide parents and the community with an early childhood system that works with us to raise our children.
May 4th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Especially with the announced federal budget plan to push mothers back into paid employment.
Nobody has said anything about what these mums (and dads) will be doing with their kids, or providing quality educational child care, rather than a glorified babysitting service.
As far as I am aware in NSW there are very strict guidlines which dictate that there must be certain numbers of Uni graduates, tafe diploma people and untrained staff. Many of the Tafe trained teachers are not even literate, and refuse to read (”we don’t do that, we just aren’t readers” was uttered to me on suggesting they read your book).
In her time working and directing in childcare, my mum found many childcare centres (long day care etc) were churning out better prepared school kids than the preschools are.
May 5th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
You are right Zoe, when we make policy we don’t consider enough the system design implications on society. So, if we want people to do soemthing we have to think, how do we redesign the systems that interlink with the desired change to make the transition as easy and worthwhile as possible.