The Best Start In Life
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday December 28, 2006
AT TWO a child's brain has 50 per cent more circuits available than the brain of an adult. And contrary to early scientific belief, this active young brain has remarkably few genetically programmed psychological and behavioural traits. Rather, it is how the malleable brain circuitry is stimulated and directed - or neglected - in the first five or six years of life that matters most. Twins raised separately, for example, exhibit wide variances in speech development, correlating with the vocabulary of their carers.
After decades of blaming lagging emotional or educational development in some children on genetics - and then on the rise of mothers in the workforce - governments all over the world have recognised the critical role of quality education in early childhood in levelling the developmental playing field. Children of all backgrounds who receive quality preschool education do better when they start school. The federal, state and territory governments count themselves among the converted. But big rhetoric about quality early-childhood care has not been matched by sufficient cash or co-ordination. Australia was the second-last of 20 developed countries in a recent OECD report based on the percentage of gross domestic product spent on early-childhood education and care. In Australia, NSW has the highest preschool fees and the lowest attendance rate. Despite a $17.5 million increase from the State Government for 800 community preschools, fees are expected to rise again, pushing places out of reach of more families. In Western Australia preschool is free and in other states fees are a fraction of the $30 a day, or more, charged in NSW. Preschools open for shorter hours than long-day-care centres, but both should provide core education programs. The 2006 OECD report, Starting Strong, noted "real limitations" in Australia's early-childhood system, including the threat to quality posed by the low pay and status of early-childhood workers and the overwhelming complexity of multiple layers of federal and state administrations and regulations. For NSW the latest news on fees is outrageous. If Australia does indeed recognise the vital importance of early-childhood education it must develop a coherent national strategy that offers all young children a head start. The early-childhood sector is smothered in policy Band-Aids that have failed to cut waiting lists, or moderate fees, in many regions. Yet we know investing in three- to four-year-olds is more effective and cheaper than crisis intervention programs in primary and high schools. There has been too much politically motivated buck-passing between the Federal Government and the states. Childhood deserves a bigger, smarter vision.
© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald