The Australian government established the National Quality Framework for early childhood education at the beginning of last year. The Framework has introduced improved child to educator ratios, new qualification requirements for educators and a focus on learning outcomes. The term “child care” seems less appropriate for this new system, which has a clear focus on education.

My 2.5 year old started childcare this year but instead of calling it child care we call it “kindy”. She isn’t in the kindergarten program until next year  so why do we call it “kindy”? I’ve heard other families call it this too and it’s got me thinking about the reason. Perhaps it is because “child care” sounds like a babysitting service rather than an early educational setting.

A place for the National Quality Framework

Critics of the National Quality framework overlook the educational focus of childcare, arguing that safety and affordability are the most important concerns. Federal Ministers Alan Tudge and  Josh Frydenberg believe that the National Quality Framework has only succeeded in driving up child care costs and that there is “clearly a trade-off between quality and cost”. They suggest that state governments, if not parent communities themselves should determine the quality of care they want. However, Tudge and Frydenberg never question why high quality care is important. What about the long term (nationwide) benefits of providing children with strong foundations in the early years?

Why is early learning important?

The importance of the early years has become well known throughout the world in the last few years. Extensive brain research has shown that the foundations for learning are laid in the first few years of life. In fact it is the experiences and learning acquired from birth that directly affect a child’s performance in their school years. Recent research undertaken by Early Childhood Australia has found that children start school with more advanced literacy, numeracy and language skills when they come from child care centres where the staff to child ratios are higher and the educators are better qualified.

Investing in early childhood has universal benefits

Furthermore, quality early childhood education has been linked to greater success in adulthood.

In his recent 2013 State of the Union address President Barack Obama emphasised the importance of preschool education by proposing investment in high quality pre-schooling for every child in America.

“In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children… studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, and form more stable families of their own,” he said.

With such strong evidence suggesting that early learning impacts upon our society and economy, surely early learning should be considered as an investment rather than a cost.

High quality child care counts

Providing nation wide, high quality childcare is not simply the federal government’s attempt to take over the role of the family as Tudge and Frydenberg suggest. There are many studies showing that these programs make a considerable difference.

As the federal election looms in September, who knows whether the momentum created by the National Quality Framework will continue. If the Coalition is elected into government they have promised to conduct a Productivity Commission inquiry into the child care sector.

But ultimately, this is not a political issue. We, as a society, need to support and promote quality early childhood education for all children. After all, they are the future of our society.