Communicating the Early Childhood Education & Care Reforms… and getting rid of the ‘c’ word

This week in Sydney, EMC client Early Childhood Australia launched the report Our Future on the Line examining the progress being made towards the National Quality Framework by every state and territory.

The National Quality Framework is a landmark reform agenda for the early childhood education and care sector.

The report also made a public pitch for the first time to do away with the ‘c’ word.

Of course we’re talking about ‘childcare’, an antiquated term that many involved in the sector feel is outdated and not encompassing of the education and learning involved in this growing industry.

ECA wants childcare to be known more commonly as early childhood education and care or ECEC. To many, including the Herald Sun, this is “political correctness gone mad”. But it is subtle changes to our language such as this that change the way we view an entire sector and the people who work in that sector.

More than simple carers

The report was launched at a local ECEC centre with the Minister for Childcare (ahem) Kate Ellis. It highlighted that many states and territories are already moving towards the new standards for early childhood education and care such as higher staff-to-child ratios and better staff qualifications.

At the launch we wanted to show that these reforms are important, not just for those working with young children, but also for the babies and young children who spend on average 17 hours in ECEC each week.

This has always been a difficult message to convey through the media, and almost every week there is a new story somewhere about rising costs for families, centres that will be forced to close and the declining profitability of the sector. If you aren’t reading about the rising cost of electricity you can be pretty sure you’ll be reading about the rising cost of care for your kids.

NSW and Vic top childhood education

The ECA report provided a solid example that many states and territories can be proud of; that the reforms are well and truly on track and a number of states are already exceeding the quality standards.

The debate about cost versus quality will continue to rage on. But ECA will keep up the fight and continue to highlight that ‘childcare’ is a sector in transition. With more than 800,000 children in ECEC today, the reforms will ultimately give our children a better start in life and help our economy prosper. Let’s hope we can see this once-in-a-lifetime reform agenda through to the end.

Childcare changes take effect ahead of schedule

You can view the report at ECA’s website: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

- Claire Johnston, EMC