NEW ACT GOVT FUNDING FOR WOMEN TO KICKSTART A CAREER IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WELCOMED BY CAMPAIGNERS
Tuesday 23 January – Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five early childhood campaign has welcomed an announcement by the ACT Government of new incentives for women to study early childhood education.
The initiative will help address a workforce crisis that is plaguing the ACT and other states and territories, making it hard for families to find a place in childcare and preschool.
Thrive by Five’s Jay Weatherill said it was fantastic to see the ACT Government take this step as part of its broader early childhood workforce strategy.
“The early childhood system cannot function without well-trained, well-paid and well-supported educators – they are the cornerstone of a system which is crucial to children and families in the ACT,” Mr Weatherill said.
“This announcement also delivers a two-fold benefit for women’s workforce participation. Not only will it help ACT women kickstart careers in early childhood education, but it will also help mothers get back to work when they want to by opening up more childcare places.
“The evidence shows that when families cannot find a childcare place or the ideal number of hours of care, more often than not it’s the career of the woman or birthing parent that suffers.”
Under the new initiative, up to 260 women will be supported to study a Certificate III, Diploma or Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education.
Mr Weatherill said while this was a welcome step, more needed to be done by governments at all levels to encourage men into the sector as well. Currently, only 2 per cent of workers in the sector are men.
“This week we launched the Thrive by Five Dads’ Alliance, with a five-point plan to support men to play a more active role in childrens’ lives in the early years,” Mr Weatherill said.
“One of the key things we are calling for is a national strategy to attract men to train and work as early childhood educators, because children benefit from engaging with caring, positive male role models at home, at childcare and at preschool.”
The ACT Government announcement comes off the back of the October 2023 passage of the The Education (Early Childhood) Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, which introduced two years of universally accessible free preschool.
“We congratulate the ACT Government on their recent steps to make high-quality early childhood education universally accessible and affordable,” Mr Waetherill said. “We look forward to working with them and governments at all levels to ensure children are supported to thrive.”
Media contact: Iona Salter (Essential Media), 0413 185 634
