THRIVE BY FIVE WELCOMES THE EXPANSION OF TASMANIA’S EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM, URGES PROGRESS TOWARDS UNIVERSAL THREE-YEAR-OLD PRESCHOOL
06 February 2024 – Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign has welcomed the expansion of Tasmania’s early childhood education and care program “Working Together”.
The expansion will enable an additional 100 three-year-olds to access a year of free early learning before they start kindergarten. The Working Together program already funds free preschool for 120 three-year-old Tasmanian children each year and this expansion nearly doubles that figure [1].
Minderoo’s Jay Weatherill said the expansion would allow even more Tasmanian children to get the best possible start to life and ensure they begin school ready to learn and thrive.
“Enabling more children to access an additional year of early learning is an incredibly positive move in the right direction,” Mr Weatherill said.
“This measure will allow even more Tasmanian children to access the life-changing benefits of high-quality early learning and care.
“It will also enable more primary carers, who are predominantly women, to re-enter the workforce should they choose to, and alleviate cost-of-living pressures for families.
“We congratulate the Tasmanian Government on building on their efforts to improve access to high-quality, affordable early learning for children and families across the state.
“We also encourage the state government to work towards rolling out universal three-year-old preschool, so that every Tasmanian family and child can access the benefits of high-quality early learning.
“All the evidence shows the first five years of life are so important for children’s development and we look forward to working with the Tasmanian Government to continue reforming the early learning system so that all children are set up to thrive.”
[1] Tasmanian Government – Expanding Early Learning Program
Media contact: Mayank Gurnani (Essential Media), 0414 463 827
