Study Suggests Kids Should Start Preschool At Age 3

Victoria University has released a new report recommending that universal preschool options currently on offer in Australia should be extended.

The report suggests that three-year-old children should be included in the program.

At present, an agreement between the Commonwealth and states guarantees universal access to preschool for children from the time they are four. However, as Dr Stacy Fox from the University’s Mitchell Institute notes, others OECD countries offering extended preschool had seen their educational outcomes improve.

“We’ve looked across the international research literature. We’ve spoken to preschool teachers and child development experts in Australia and there’s an overwhelming consensus that two years of preschool gives children the best start,” said Dr Fox.

As of yet there isn’t any consensus about how much the move to extend universal preschool would cost in Australia, but Dr Fox believes that the program could be extended with a “modest investment”.

“What we’ve suggested is that COAG commission a study into what kind of capacity exists already in our early education and care system and then look at what kinds of additional resources would be needed in terms of workforce and capital investment,” she said.

“We think it could be manageable and we think that the long-term benefits of that investment mean that the returns absolutely outweigh the costs.”

“It means children are much more ready when they start school, they start school on a much more equal footing, it has flow on impacts to their NAPLAN scores, to their rates of Year 12 graduation.”

Dr Fox wasn’t the only one who was supportive of changing universal preschool in Australia. Samantha Page from Early Childhood Australia said she too agreed with recommendation, noting that:

“Children who go to a quality preschool are much more likely to make a successful transition into school.”

“We know that we have nearly a quarter of children starting school at a disadvantage to their peers, that means they’re coming into school behind where their peers are and it’s fairly difficult for those children to catch up.”

“In fact most of them don’t and we can correct that by investing more in the preschool years.”

Simon Birmingham, the Federal Education Minister, also said he would welcome talks about the possibility of extended the preschool program.

“I’ve been speaking publicly about extending preschool to three year olds for nearly a year. It’s a complex issue in terms of what settings it should be delivered in and for what hours as well as how it is funded,” he said.

“Nonetheless we are looking at international models and will engage with state leaders who have a prime responsibility in the delivery and funding of any preschool expansion.”

Senator Birmingham noted that currently the Government was focused on how to pass the savings that would be needed in order to overhaul that system, but that a preschool extension could very well be in Australia’s future.

What do you think of three-year-olds starting school?