Children in Wide Bay to benefit from preschool funding agreement
14th March, 2016
Federal Member for Wide Bay Warren Truss has welcomed $840 million in federal funding to be made available for quality preschool programmes across the country.“The Coalition Government’s National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education guarantees funding for 600 hours of quality preschool for children in the year before school, and includes a focus on lifting participation rates for children from vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds,” Mr Truss said.
“All states and territories including Queensland have signed up to the National Partnership Agreement, which is extremely encouraging and means that the funding will flow to local preschools in Wide Bay.
“This funding will help preschool children aged between four and five who are enrolled at local preschools get the best start in life.”
The National Partnership funding is just one aspect of the Federal Government’s commitment to early childhood education. In addition to the $840 million for the National Partnership Agreement, the Turnbull Government has committed to reforms worth $40 billion for early childhood education and care over the next four years, including more than $3 billion to ensure the system is more accessible, affordable and fairer for families.
Mr Truss confirmed that the funding is the single largest investment in early learning and child care that this country has ever seen.
“This funding will guarantee support for 15 hours of quality preschool education a week for children in the year before school,” Mr Truss said.
For more information visit: www.education.gov.au/universal-access-early-childhood-education.
