Funding and accreditation for early childhood teachers were hot topics throughout 2016.
The April issue of Newsmonth reported on new requirements for early childhood teachers to register for accreditation by 18 July that year.
Failure to register with BOSTES (now the NSW Education Standards Authority) would mean “You can no longer teach as an early childhood teacher”. Unless you wanted to start again as a graduate.
Inadequate pay
The December issue of Newsmonth highlighted a lack of funding from the NSW government with the headline: “Minister, show us the money”.
IEU Secretary John Quessy quoted a press release from the NSW Early Childhood Education Minister Leslie Williams titled: “High-quality early childhood learning assured with 7000 teachers accredited.”
“When we invest in early childhood education, we invest in the future,” Williams said.
While the minister’s messaging was self-congratulatory, many in the sector were keenly aware it resembled the gunk on your boots after a day at a farm.
“Such hubris however fails to acknowledge that these early childhood teachers are paid up to $30,000 per annum less than their professional equals teaching in schools,” Quessy said.
“So, equal professional status, high-quality teachers and vital work but seriously inadequate investment.
“The NSW government simply does not put its money where its mouth is.”
Funding chicanery
Early childhood consultant Lisa Bryant revealed how the NSW government was short-changing the early childhood education and care sector of hundreds of millions of dollars of funding in “Too little, too late”.
Bryant said the NSW Auditor General had found “the government underspent their own early childhood budget by $350 million over four years”.
“They had also pocketed the $227 million in funds received from the federal government for early education,” she said.
This is why Bryant doubted whether early childhood teachers would be impressed by NSW Premier Mike Baird’s announcement of new funding for the sector.
“Despite the new funding, NSW still spends a pittance on early education,” she said.