12 November 2018

Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Education and Training

Ensuring the best start in life

The Hodgman Liberal Government is ensuring every young Tasmanian is given the best start in life by providing free pre-school for eligible 3 year old children from 2020.

Research tells us that if we want to improve lifelong education and well-being outcomes, then the best time to invest is in the early years of life when children learn to communicate, get along with others and control and adapt their behaviour, emotions and thinking.

Ultimately, this initiative is about supporting 3 year olds in Tasmania to be confident, creative and to thrive.

Today’s announcement of five pilot locations for this exciting initiative, called Working Together for 3 Year Olds, will open up pre-school access opportunities for a number of eligible 3 year olds in 2019.

The five selected pilot locations are:

• Glenorchy, Devonport, Kingborough, Derwent Valley and Launceston (with a focus on Mowbray, Rocherlea and Newnham).

Through these trial sites, families who haven’t been able to access pre-school programs will have the option to benefit from 400 hours each year of free early learning for their 3 year old.

This state-wide initiative will be fully implemented from 2020 and is part of our record $324 million investment into education, including 358 more staff and $192 million in education and training infrastructure. These investments are only possible due to our strong financial management.

In the spirit of true co-design, children and families will be involved in the design and development of this initiative and in the coming months, the project team will be working in partnership with the Tasmanian Council of Social Service, parents and carers.

Together with the Early Childhood Education and Care sector and other key community services our goal is to create a valuable and accessible experience for those who most need it.

Any Tasmanian ECEC services wanting to be part of this exciting initiative can find out more by contacting early.years@education.tas.gov.au

Our targets for Education and training infrastructure include:

• Invest a record $324 million over 6 years into Education including 250 more teachers and 358 new staff in total.
• Invest $192 million in Education infrastructure.
• By 2020 be at or above the national standard in every single NAPLAN measurement in reading, writing, maths and science.
• Ensure the retention rate of students from years 10-12 is at or above the national average by 2022.
• 75 per cent of all students to complete their TCE by 2022.
• Increase the long-term average investment in public infrastructure by 20 per cent

See all of our targets at: https://www.tas.liberal.org.au/sites/default/files/BuildingYourFuture.pdf

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