In a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown that 60,000 more children are now registered in preschool and kindergarten programs than there were in 2008.
“The Gillard Government has placed strong emphasis on early childhood education and provided additional investment, and along with national Universal Access agreements, has helped ensure Australian children get the best start to education possible,” Minister for Early Childhood Peter Garrett said.
Mr Garrett explained that the Gillard Government is investing nearly $970 million over five years in early childhood education to offer access to all children for 15 hours a week of pre school education in the year before full time schooling.
Mr Garret commented that the report shows that 266,000 four and five year old children were enrolled in a program in the year before full-time school in 2012. The proportion of children enrolled has gone up by eight percentage points from 81 to 89 per cent adding that in 2012 there were 3,500 more Indigenous children receiving a preschool program in the year before school than in 2008. This means that more than 4 out of 5 Indigenous children were participating in a preschool program nationally.