Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Ministers statements: kindergarten funding

Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (12:03): It has been wonderful to see the statewide rollout of three-year-old kindergarten to tens of thousands of children and their families as part of the Andrews Labor government’s commitment to cement Victoria as the Education State. We are transforming early childhood education in Victoria to deliver 15 hours a week of funded three-year-old kinder by 2029 through our $5 billion reform. This reform will also create significant numbers of jobs—6000 new teacher and educator positions and 5000 construction jobs over the 10-year period.

There are so many incredible examples of early childhood programs right across our state, and last week I had the pleasure of visiting the Kinglake Ranges bush kinder program and seeing firsthand the benefits of two years of kindergarten education. As many of the children had attended three-year-old kinder last year, they were settling easily into four-year-old kinder. They are familiar with their teachers and the routines and are thriving in their learning. The highlight of my visit was joining some of the children on the famous poo walk, where I was presented with a guidebook to help identify animal droppings on the ground. I also had the pleasure of meeting early childhood educator Jade, who is currently taking advantage of our government’s support to upskill from a diploma to a bachelor of education.

I want to congratulate staff and providers across the state for delivering this significant reform to our three-year-old children. We know that investing in early childhood education is the smart thing to do, and I am proud that our government is leading the country on delivering universal three-year-old kindergarten.