The Hodgman Liberal Government will lower the starting age for prep by six months, to four years and six months; however following extensive consultation this will not be compulsory.
To deliver this change we will invest more than an additional $100 million in teachers, teacher assistants, specialist staff to support children with a disability and improved infrastructure.
This is the next major piece of education reform that we are delivering; it follows our successful high school extension initiative, and precedes changes to the leaving requirements.
The changes we are introducing as a result of our Education Act review represent the most significant transformation of and investment in early learning in more than half a century.
These changes will give every Tasmanian child access to two years of quality, play based, enquiry-led, learning before starting formal schooling in year one.
The early years are critical for the development and success of our children. Now, for the first time, these important years will receive the funding and structural reform they need to succeed.
Today, I am pleased to announce the first of a raft of changes resulting from the review of the Education Act, which is 20 years old and fails to consider contemporary practices and research.
As part of our reforms we will be lowering the school starting age for prep by six months to four-and-a-half; however this will not be compulsory.
Children will be required to start school in the prep year at five years old, just as they currently are. But if parents feel their child is ready, they can start six months earlier, at four and a half.
In turn, parents will also have the choice of sending their child to kindergarten at the age of three years and six months, instead of four years, though this will remain optional.
We understand that parents and carers know their child better than anyone else, and I believe making this optional will alleviate concerns raised by some, while also ensuring we achieve the purpose of this change; giving every child universal access to quality early learning sooner.
To deliver our reforms we will invest more than an additional $100 million in the early years in the six years from 2018/19. This means more teachers, teacher assistants, support staff and infrastructure to support our children.
We will increase the $15 million already flagged to implement this change to $17 million each year as the additional students move through the system.
This funding will support more teachers and support staff such as social workers and speech pathologists, ensuring we have supports in place, including for students with disability, to help every child succeed.
In addition we will invest $4.9 million per year from 2020 for additional teacher assistants, to support prep teachers.
There will also be an $18 million investment in capital works from 2018/19 to ensure our kindergarten and prep classrooms and infrastructure can support the additional students and staff.
The National Quality Standards for Early Childhood Education and Care will continue to be our guide. And today I am also announcing that from 2020 all government kindergartens will be formally assessed against the standards. The Department will immediately commence working with regulatory bodies to implement this commitment.
Through these changes, we are making the structural change and targeted investment that is necessary to give every Tasmanian a better education and greater opportunities in life.
Research clearly shows that quality early learning has significant benefits for children. This simple age adjustment, along with quality early years delivery, will have a profound effect on the prosperity of future generations and the prosperity our state.
As it stands, Tasmanian children aren’t given the same opportunities as every other child in Australia because we have the oldest minimum starting age in the country.
We can’t expect to do better while we’re doing less, and this is why this has to change; Tasmanian children deserve the same opportunities as every other child across the country.
These changes will build on what we already have in our kindergartens and Child and Family Centres, and through our Launching into Learning and Learning in Families Together programs.
Importantly, these changes will not take effect until 2020, giving a long lead-in time to ensure that parents, students and the child care sector can prepare for this change.
These changes follow an extensive two year consultation, over three phases, which included consideration of more than 500 submissions and feedback from 17 public forums.
I want to thank everyone who has participated in this process; one of the greatest results of this has been the community’s engagement in shaping the future of education in Tasmania.
The full Education Act Bill will be tabled in the Spring session of Parliament.
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