The Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care has released its Final Report.
The report contains 43 recommendations and details an ambitious vision for the future of early childhood education and care in South Australia.
The Commission heard from researchers, experts, providers and families about the importance of high-quality early childhood education and care.
Key themes
The key unifying themes of the report and the new system it describes are:
- Every child will benefit from greater access to quality services, including an extra year of preschool. However, because children are different, the system will be universal but not uniform, which means additional help will get to the children and families who need it.
- Irrespective of a family's postcode the quality of local services will be improved. The Commission recommends that every service, whether provided by government, the private sector or a not-for-profit should link together and form a coherent system that is easier for families to use.
- South Australia can be a nation leader on early childhood development by:
- driving towards an ambitious goal to reduce the number of children starting school with developmental challenges
- offering up to 30 hours of preschool per week for 3 and 4-year-olds who need the most development support
- constantly translating new scientific knowledge into action
- leading the national policy conversation on the early years.
Recommendations
The Final Report contains 43 recommendations to help children and families as well as improve the quality and connectivity of early childhood education and care.
The First 1000 Days Preschool Out of School Hours Care
