The Hon. Blair Boyer, Minister for Education, Training and Skills (SA), Media Release, 18 April 2023

The Malinauskas Labor Government’s return of early childhood courses to TAFE has seen an almost doubling of uptake in just 12 months.

The Certificate III and Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care were removed by the former Liberal Government from TAFE SA in metropolitan areas.

The Malinauskas Labor Government made an election commitment to reinstate these courses to address workforce shortages in the early childhood education sector – and was one of the first actions taken a year ago by the State Government. 

Enrolments in Semester 1 for 2023 for both courses are currently at 456 – almost double the same time last year with 276 enrolments.

This follows the release of the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care’s Interim Report released on 17 April 2023.

The Malinauskas Labor Government initiated the Royal Commission in October last year and tasked former Prime Minister Julia Gillard with leading this important piece of education reform. 

The courses were also added to the Fee-Free TAFE list, ensuring people who might not have had access to education, have the opportunity to do so.

There is also a lot of work being done in collaboration with universities – where we are offering teaching scholarships through all three South Australian universities. We are also investing $15 million in a Country strategy to encourage teachers to take up regional and rural positions. 

The interim report makes findings and in principle recommendations only on three-year-old preschool, but this is work that is happening now to ensure we are providing the best opportunities for our children and for those seeking meaningful careers.

The Royal Commission has brought together a range of experts, research, and those with lived experience of families from all backgrounds to shape recommendations for the government over the short and longer term.

The State Government will consider the recommendations and provide a response ahead of the final report due later this year. 

For further information visit www.royalcommissionecec.sa.gov.au

Quotes attributable to Blair Boyer

The increase in students studying early childhood education and care courses at TAFE SA shows exactly why we made the right decision to bring these courses back.

Workforce will be one of the crucial focuses in ensuring we are providing a quality education for three-year-olds.

We recognised that straight away, which is why we took immediate steps to reintroduce the courses to metro and regional campuses.

Not only have we brought early childhood courses back to TAFE – but we have made them fee-free.

The Royal Commissioner and her team have done an outstanding and thorough piece of work that provides us with a roadmap to deliver our election commitment.

Quotes attributable to Member for Waite, Catherine Hutchesson

It’s so important that we provide the education and services for our youngest members of the community and the Royal Commission provides us with a pathway to do that.

As somebody who studied at TAFE, I know how important returning these courses are for South Australians to access high quality, public education.

Our early childhood workers are critical to ensuring our children have the best care and I’m so pleased to see that more people are taking it up as a career option.