The ECE package harms high quality ECE centres

The Herald reports:

Early Childhood Education leaders are seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister and Associate Minister of Education as they fear the Government’s 20-hours-free expansion could compromise childcare standards and force centres to close.

Budget 2023 included extending 20 hours of free early childcare per week to apply to 2-year-olds in addition to children 3 and above, which was a welcome relief for some new parents struggling with the high cost of living and by sector leaders.

However, those same leaders are now sounding the alarm about conditions within the expansion that childcare centres must meet in order to offer the 20 hours for free.

New Shoots Children’s Centre director Kelly Seaburg told the Herald the Government’s additional funding of the 20-hours-free package – $1.2 billion over four years – was developed using a 1:10 teacher-to-child ratio.

Seaburg said it was generally accepted that 1:10 was not an appropriate ratio to deliver quality childcare, particularly to 2-year-olds, who had higher needs than older children.

We’ve been fortunate that our two kids have gone to two great ECE centres. They generally operate around 1:4 to 1:5 and I would never send them to a centre with a 1:10 ratio.

Having spent a lot of time at our ECEs, I’ve observed that much of the time one or more teachers will be dealing with an individual kid – changing their nappy, comforting them etc. So even with a 1:5 ratio you often have one teacher keeping an eye on 9 or 10 kids while the other teacher is dealing with one kid.

So if the Government is only funding at a 1:10 ratio, then at times you may have a teacher having to look after 20 kids at once. And that might be okay with say four year olds for short periods, but not for two year olds.

So extending 20 free fours to 2 year olds, but only funding at a 1:10 ratio will mean higher quality ECEs with smaller ratios get hammered. Lower quality ECEs with high ratios will prosper.