EXCERPTS:
Australia's largest childcare provider has warned the Abbott government against watering down national minimum educator-to-child ratios.
Goodstart Early Learning - whose 641 centres are attended by about 73,000 children - has told the productivity commission inquiry into childcare that regulated ratios are crucial to ensure children can receive the individual attention they need each day.
The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets ratios for centre-based services of one educator to four children under the age of two; one educator to five children between the ages of two and three; and one educator to 11 children over the age of three up to preschool.
Some of the ratios are already in force but others are due to take effect in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria on 1 January, 2016. The NQF also seeks to increase the use of higher-qualified educators.
The Coalition's pre-election childcare and early learning policy raised concern the NQF was causing administrative and staffing problems and vowed to consider slowing the implementation of staff-to-child ratios "to give the sector enough time to absorb the changes and ensure continuity of service".
The chief executive of Goodstart, Julia Davison, said some providers and decision-makers had argued to slow or water down the NQF, but she hoped pending reviews would not be "an exercise in putting the brakes on quality".
"It's disappointing when some providers and policy-makers criticise the NQF as creating too much ‘red tape'," she told Guardian Australia.
"While Goodstart would welcome some streamlining, it's important to note that most of the NQF rules are vital, such as documenting children's progress in early learning, keeping children safe and getting right the ratio of educators to children ... The naysayers of the National Quality Framework have been given a good hearing lately and we believe it's time for supporters of quality to step up, have our say and be heard."
The productivity commission is looking at the NQF as part of its wide-ranging inquiry into childcare and early childhood learning.
In its submission to the productivity commission, Goodstart said the NQF must be supported and maintained. Having the right number of staff with the right qualifications is critical to quality, it said.
"Having the right qualifications and ratios means educators can build relationships with children and be responsive to their needs, to help them to learn and develop. It also means children's safety and well-being is ensured," the submission said.
Goodstart said appropriate ratios "enable positive and more frequent interactions, greater engagement in children's play, lower levels of child distress, and more positive nurturing behaviour from staff". It says better qualified educators "are associated with better child outcomes in areas such as pre-reading, social and behavioural gains, reduced ‘antisocial/worried' behaviour, and language and reasoning".
Highly skilled educators should know what to look for and how to help if a child is experiencing problems such as language delays, hearing, or vision problems and can identify families who are under stress, the submission said.
Goodstart makes 10 recommendations, including greater government spending on early childhood education and care; a new "single, streamlined" universal payment to replace the current, complicated childcare subsidies; and targeted assistance to support vulnerable children.
Goodstart acknowledged the NQF minimum quality standard will increase the cost of delivering childcare, but it is "an investment that must be made to achieve both child development and workforce participation".
"Scrapping the NQF reforms will not ensure the long-term affordability of early learning and care, but would have a major negative impact on the quality of learning provided to Australian children. Children deserve quality early learning and care and parents demand it. The minimum quality standards that families need must be funded by governments," it said.
The productivity commission is due to prepare a draft report in July and hand a final report to the government in October.
In a sign of the budget pressures that will constrain the scope for changes, the inquiry's terms of reference said: "In making any recommendations for future Australian government policy settings, the commission will consider options within current funding parameters."
-reprinted from the Guardian