The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to improving educational outcomes for Tasmanian children, to give them the best possible opportunities later in life.
I welcome the announcement of new research tracking the progress of Tasmanian children from birth to age five being conducted by Telethon Kids Institute and The University of Western Australia, in partnership with the Tasmanian Government, the Menzies Research and the School of Social Sciences at the University of Tasmania.
The research will focus on identifying what services are valuable to families in supporting the health and education of 12,000 Tasmanian children, and will follow on from a report, published by Telethon Kids in 2015, which evaluated Child and Family Centres in Tasmania.
The CFC report highlighted parental perceptions of CFCs and noted the positive difference these services are making to the lives of families and children throughout Tasmania, especially in communities with greatest need.
The evidence is clear, quality early learning from a young age changes lives for the better, and the Government’s proposal to lower the starting age for Prep by six months will ensure all Tasmanian children have access to high quality early learning sooner and bring us in line with most other Australian jurisdictions.
I look forward to the final report from the Telethon Kids Institute and The University of Western Australia as it will help us further understand how the early years supports childhood learning and development.
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