Preschool funding guaranteed for 2021

The Federal Government will provide $453.2m for preschool funding in 2021 to support almost 350,000 children to access preschool.

Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the Government wanted continuity of education so our students didn’t miss out because of COVID-19.

“Preschool is an important first step in a student’s formal education so the Federal Government has again committed to providing $453.2 million towards the preschool education of every child,” Mr Tehan said.

“The expert medical advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) is very clear:

AHPPC does not support the closure of schools given the lack of evidence of significant disease in children and the lack of reported major disease spreading in schools. Furthermore, the closure of schools poses a major risk to children's education, mental health and wellbeing, particularly those from low socioeconomic regions, where schools provide an important environment for nurturing and learning.

“As Australia deals with the impacts of the coronavirus, we are also still addressing long-term issues impacting the attendance of children from disadvantaged, Indigenous and rural and remote families.

“We are still working to develop strategies to increase preschool attendance to improve participation rates in affordable, quality, early childhood education programs for children.”

The Federal Government had funded the National Partnership since 2014, representing a total investment of $3.2 billion.