The South Australian Government has established a Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care to investigate what can be done to better support families in South Australia, including offering 3-year-old preschool to all children.
Background
A range of services provide what is called 'early childhood education and care'. These include:
- long day care (often known as child care)
- family day care
- early learning centres
- children's centres
- preschool (often known as kindy or kindergarten).
The Royal Commission will focus on how these services can support all children to succeed, as well as looking at preschool for 3-year-old children and the supports families might need to access quality education and care, including out of school hours care at all ages.
Get involved
The Royal Commission wants to hear from parents and caregivers across South Australia - especially those who live regionally.
The Royal Commission is asking parents to share:
- what is important to them when thinking about early childhood services for your child?
- what services or experiences do they want for their child?
- what is informing the choices they have made or will make?
- what do they think is important for children's learning and development?
It will be important to ensure that the voices of parents wanting a faith-based early childhood offering are heard through this process.
Parents can their say by reading the community guide and then taking a survey.
They will also be holding a number of online forums for parents and caregivers. To stay up to date, subscribe to their newsletter.
Parents or schools can also contact the Royal Commission by:
What are the next steps?
The Royal Commission is expected to run until mid-to-late 2023.
An Interim Report will be issued in April next year focusing on 3-year-old preschool delivery, and the Final Report will be released by the end of August 2023.
The Government will then consider the report and the recommendations, and look at how to implement them.