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5/ 3/ 2002 Hon Trevor Mallard
Equity funding for Early Childhood Education
More than a thousand early childhood services will start to receive extra funding from the end of this week as the government starts to introduce equity funding for the early childhood education sector.
Education Minister Trevor Mallard said the first payments are going out to centres this week. The equity funding system will deliver an extra $8 million a year to eligible community-based services.
Trevor Mallard said equity funding was a further step in the government’s commitment to achieve across-the-board improvements to the education of young children.
“In this case, the government is directing most of the additional money to early childhood education services in lower socio-economic communities,” Trevor Mallard said.
2002 is a transition year for the introduction of the equity funding initiative. The first payments will be smaller than services will receive once the initiative is fully implemented in November 2002. The initial allocation in March will benefit 1121 services, with further services coming on board when actual equity indices are determined later in the year following census information from last year becoming available.
Equity funding is available to licensed and chartered, community based early childhood education services:
· In low socio-economic communities;
· In isolated areas;
· Which are based on a language and culture other than English;
· Which have significant numbers of children with special education needs.
“The additional funding means eligible early childhood services will work more effectively with children who have learning and behavioural difficulties or who are from non-English speaking backgrounds,” Trevor Mallard said.
“I am confident that centres will use the extra funding to give their children a better foundation for life-long learning.
“Centres will use the extra funding for things like additional curriculum resources, improved staff:child ratios, professional development for staff and education for families, transport and meeting children’s nutritional needs,” Trevor Mallard said.
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