Prevent it, resist it, let it
not be so,
Lest child, child’s children,
cry against you woe!
Richard
II, Act 4, scene 1
The OECD has released a new working paper on early childhood
education policy. The working paper is titled A strong start for every Indigenous child and authored by Australian
authors led by Inge Kral of the ANU. The working paper (link
here) provides an extremely useful comparative assessment of development in
early childhood education policy in Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada and Australia.
Early childhood is a key policy issue in the Indigenous
policy domain, and arguably underappreciated insofar as it is largely subsumed
by the broader mainstream policy frameworks dealing with early childhood.
The latest Productivity Commission annual data report (link
here) provides a quick snapshot of the relevant early childhood targets:
TARGET 3: By 2025, increase
the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children enrolled in
Year Before Full time Schooling (YBFS) early childhood education to 95 per cent.
Nationally
in 2020, 93.1 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the
Year Before Full time Schooling (YBFS) age cohort were enrolled in a preschool
program. This is an increase from 76.7 per cent in 2016 (the baseline year). Nationally,
based on the most recent year of data, the target is on track to be met.
TARGET 4: By 2031, increase
the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children assessed as developmentally
on track in all five domains of the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC)
to 55 per cent.
Nationally
in 2018, 35.2 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
commencing school were assessed as being developmentally on track in all five
AEDC domains. There are no new data since the baseline year of 2018.
In relation to Target 4, the Productivity Commission data
(see Figure CtG4.1) indicates that over the decade from 2009 to 2018, the
relevant figure has increased from around 25 to 35 percent. The target chosen –
55 per cent by 2031 would require the rate of improvement to double, which in
turn would require significant increases in investment.
The Commonwealth recently announced its commitment to
investing a further $122m in new funding for an Early Childhood Education
Package (link here
and here).
This is a welcome injection of funds. What is unclear however, to reiterate
points made in my previous post (link
here), is that early childhood education is funded by both the Commonwealth
and state and territory levels of government, and it is unclear (a) what levels
of funding overall is presently being invested by both the Commonwealth and the
states/territories; and (b) what level of funding would be required to increase
services, particularly where need is greatest, and thus bring outcomes for Indigenous
children up to the same level as for mainstream community children within a reasonable
period.
It is clear then that the OECD working paper is timely and
important, as it provides a wealth of informed insight into both what has been
happening on the ground in the three national jurisdictions under
consideration, and what will be required to ensure policy engagement is both
effective and successful.
I don’t propose to attempt to summarise the OECD working
paper, but will cherry pick a few paragraphs to illustrate some (but not all)
of the important insights included. I recommend interested readers take the
time to have a quick look at the report itself.
Below are a number of extracts from the working paper:
Here is the Abstract:
This
Working Paper was developed to assist policy makers, education and Indigenous
leaders, as well as education practitioners, to better support Indigenous
children’s early learning and well-being. The paper focuses on early years
policies and provision in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and Canada. It sets
out a synthesis of evidence on children’s early development, with a particular
focus on the conditions and approaches that support positive outcomes for
Indigenous children. The Working Paper then outlines a set of promising
initiatives that seek to create positive early learning environments for
Indigenous children. Drawing on the available evidence and promising
approaches, the paper presents a framework for strengthening Indigenous
children’s early learning and well-being.
From page 12:
The
size of early learning effects on adult outcomes is significant. As set out in
Figure 3, four key longitudinal studies have found effect sizes on adult
earnings ranging from 10% to 25%.
From pages 17-18:
Nonetheless,
almost all trends pertaining to child health and well-being in Australia are
worse for Indigenous Australian children (Wise, 2013[38]). In addition, a clear
gradient is evident of increasing disadvantage the further children live from
major cities (Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre, 2017[39]). … Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
children in remote Australia are more likely to experience a lack of access to
appropriate services, known to mediate the impact of adversity in early
childhood (SNAICC, 2020[40]).
From page 19
Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander children account for 44% of all children in remote
areas in Australia, despite making up less than 6% of all children in Australia
and are 12 times as likely as non-Indigenous children to live in remote areas
(SNAICC, 2020[40]).
From page 42:
The
states and territories where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are
provided free or near-free access to preschool from age 3 tend to achieve the
national “Closing the Gap” target of 95% enrolment of Indigenous children in
the year before school, whereas this is not achieved in states where such
provision is not made (Early Childhood Australia., 2019[105]).
From page 45:
In
Australia, a shortage of qualified Indigenous educators and difficulty in
accessing training, particularly for educators in remote areas, are significant
constraints.
According to Minister Wyatt’s media release (link
here), the recent Commonwealth investment of $122m includes $82m to expand
the Connected Beginnings Program to create four new replication sites in
Queensland and Victoria. If we take a moment to think about this, four new
sites, no matter how beneficial they will be in improving life opportunities for
the Indigenous children in their footprint, will have only a marginal impact on
addressing the needs of Indigenous children nationally.
While any increase is welcome, the increase offered here
will clearly not be adequate to double the rate of progress required to achieve
parity in Target 4 of the Closing the Gap framework. There is clearly a need
for a much more rigorous assessment of the resourcing required to address deep
seated disadvantage amongst pre-school age children in the Indigenous
community. A failure to do so will perpetuate disadvantage into disadvantaged children’s
adult years, and constrain the nation’s ability to address deep-seated
disadvantage within a reasonable period.
The OECD working paper lays out a coherent rationale, and a
persuasive roadmap, for improving the access of Indigenous children to early
childhood education. It emphasises the sorts of interventions that work, the
multiplicity of factors that can constrain the full development of children,
and provides an evidence base for prioritising policy reform and increased investment
in this area.
The OECD paper also reinforces the crucial importance of allocating
available resources on the basis of relative need. It is clear from the available
data that regional and remote areas require greater policy attention and significantly
more investment if we are to remove both inequality within First Nations communities,
and the disparity between First Nations and the wider mainstream community.
What the OECD working paper doesn’t do is assess the level of
resources required to meet the targets adopted by all Australian Governments in
the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. Yet this is a necessary step in the
policy development process.
To my mind, the OECD working paper A strong start for every Indigenous child should be considered
closely by the relevant agencies in each jurisdiction. A proactive bureaucracy could
make use of the working paper to inform development of a succinct policy proposal
to relevant Ministers and Cabinets, linking the strategies and approaches
required with a summary of existing jurisdictional program investment, and
identifying the opportunity and benefit of lifting investment in early
childhood services for Indigenous communities based on a clear assessment of
need. In addition, there would be benefit in the Joint Council on Closing the
Gap established by the new National Partnership on Closing the Gap considering
the OECD working paper, and in interrogating the issue of just what level of investment
would be required to make a real and sustainable difference to the life opportunities
of Indigenous children across the nation.
What is clear is that the policy frameworks required to
address disadvantage in early childhood education are known to policymakers.
What is missing is the political will to drive the necessary policy reforms, and
to make the necessary policy investments. The opportunity to make a difference
stares us in the face. Yet so too does the prospect of failure. We should
prevent such a failure, resist such a failure, lest our children, Indigenous
and non-Indigenous, cry woe!
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