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WSBASeptember2016
WSBASeptember2016
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CHILDSCENE<br />
WWW.WSBA.COM.AU<br />
Is it time to provide preschool<br />
education for three-year-olds?<br />
LEARNING<br />
By Stacey Fox<br />
Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute,<br />
Victoria University<br />
Enrollment rates at age 3 in early childhood education, selected OECD countries, 2013 OECD<br />
IRELAND has just become the latest country<br />
to make preschool programs available to all<br />
three-year-olds.<br />
There is a clear move internationally towards<br />
delivery of two years of preschool, with<br />
early education being understood as a critical<br />
investment in human capital.<br />
Who offers preschool to three-yearolds?<br />
Many European countries, including<br />
France, Germany and Norway, have provided<br />
universal preschool for three and four-yearolds<br />
for decades.<br />
More recently, the UK and New Zealand<br />
have made moves to join them. And East<br />
Asian countries that consistently top education<br />
performance lists are rapidly gearing<br />
towards universal access for three and fouryear-olds.<br />
Australia has much lower levels of participation<br />
in ECEC (Early Childhood Education<br />
and Care) and preschool programs than our<br />
OECD peers.<br />
Enrollment rates at age 3 in early childhood<br />
education, selected OECD countries,<br />
2013 OECD<br />
We currently provide universal access to<br />
one year of preschool in the year before children<br />
start school, delivered for 15 hours per<br />
week (or 600 hours per year). This is either<br />
free or subsidised, depending on which state<br />
you live in.<br />
Is it time for Australia to join other countries<br />
and consider a second year of funded<br />
preschool for three-year-olds?<br />
Why are other countries investing in<br />
preschool?<br />
Preschool programs (also known as<br />
kindergarten) provide an environment for<br />
children to develop their skills, capabilities,<br />
interests and talents.<br />
Preschool is about helping children learn<br />
to get along with others, to be creative and<br />
collaborative problem solvers, to understand<br />
and talk about their emotions, as well as supporting<br />
the foundations of literacy, numeracy<br />
and science.<br />
Skilled educators use teaching strategies<br />
that are appropriate for the age of the child.<br />
They extend children’s thinking, encourage<br />
them to ask questions, engage them in conversations<br />
about things that excite them, and<br />
integrate learning into play and exploration.<br />
Research from the UK shows that attending<br />
two years of preschool improves<br />
children’s readiness for school more than one<br />
year’s attendance, with particular impacts on<br />
their early literacy and social and emotional<br />
skills.<br />
Continued on page 53<br />
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52 WESTERN SYDNEY BUSINESS ACCESS SEPTEMBER 2016
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