The Independent Education Union (IEU) welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement today of a $10 million injection into the early childhood training sector and an expansion of the HECS-HELP scheme.
But IEU Federal Secretary Chris Watt said although the measures were welcome, they would not resolve the ongoing shortage of qualified staff across the sector while pay inequity remained an issue.
“The Productivity Commission report found that the full implementation of the National Quality Framework will require an additional 15,000 qualified teaching professionals across the sector. The funding announced today will only create up to 2000 extra training places,” Mr Watt said.
“But training is only the first step to resolving the staffing crisis facing the ECE sector. Attracting and retaining qualified staff remains a significant issue.
“Pay inequity is a major contributor to the shortage of qualified staff in early childhood education.
“Until qualified early childhood teachers receive pay parity with their colleagues in schools, recruitment to and retention of education professionals in the sector will remain difficult.
“As centres begin implementing the 15 hour Universal Access program, many will be left with funding shortfalls.
“The Federal Government needs to make further commitments to significantly increase the amount of funding not only to cover the cost of centres implementing National Quality Reforms, but also to guarantee that teaching staff receive pay parity with school teachers,” Mr Watt said.
Chris Watt
Federal Secretary
