AUSTRALIAN children’s agency Save the Children welcomes the government’s move to extend the agreement on preschool funding. The extension provides subsidies of $406 million, allowing for a total of 15 hours of preschool for four-year-olds for one more year.
“Save the Children welcomes the government’s decision to extend funding for preschool subsidies, which is a great first step towards providing universal access to early learning. A commitment is now needed to secure longer-term funds beyond 2015 to ensure no children get left behind,” Save the Children early children education specialist Marie Stuart said.
“Children’s ability to learn starts at a very young age and early education through preschool can make all the difference in getting children ready for school. The government’s extended funding for a guaranteed 15 hours of preschool will essentially provide our youngest children with some of the first building blocks they need for a successful future,” Ms Stuart said.
Save the Children runs education programs for young children in Australia and around the world, and highlights that funding for this area of wider education can provide particular benefit to children from disadvantaged areas who may not otherwise get into kindergarten and other childhood care programs.
In Australia Save the Children was one of the first organisations to open aboriginal and integrated preschools along the East Coast of Australia over 60 years ago.
Most recently, the organisation has been running kindergarten programs for over 50 years in East Gippsland, attended by children from the Lake Tyers Trust Aboriginal community, and in North East Victoria, where the centre is staffed and attended by members of the local Aboriginal community.
Source: Save the Children
Ryan Fritz
Ryan Fritz started The Advocate in 2014 to provide not-for-profits and charities another media platform to tell their worthwhile hard news stories and opinion pieces effortlessly. In 2020, Ryan formed a team of volunteer journalists to help spread even more high-quality stories from the third sector. He also has over 10 years experience as a media and communications professional for not-for-profits and charities and currently works at Redkite, a childhood cancer charity.
