The ACT should expand its preschool program to five days per week after NSW and Victoria announced major reforms, early childhood education experts say.
The two most populous states announced they would roll out universal access to pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds by 2030.
The move responds to a decade of reports and advocacy which shows the benefits of access to early education for children's development and readiness for school.
It also opens up opportunities for parents to re-enter the workforce and would make early education more accessible and affordable.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare told ACM he welcomed the announcement which expanded on the Rudd and Gillard governments' funding of 15 hours a week of preschool.
"This is another big step forward," Mr Clare said.
"When I get education ministers together for the next ministerial council, I'm keen to get NSW and Victoria to present on their plans [and] how it will work so that other colleagues across the country can learn about what the plan is and we can work together on it."
The ACT currently offers 15 hours a week of preschool for four-year-olds under the national partnership agreement. It also offers 15 hours for up to 500 three-year-olds, prioritising children most in need.
ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said it was an exciting day for early education workers and advocates who had been campaigning for decades.
"The ACT government is always considering how to improve early learning outcomes in Canberra and looks forward to learning more from the experiences in Victoria and NSW," Ms Berry said.
"I'm also excited to work with the newly elected Albanese government to improve access to high quality early childhood education and care more broadly."
Early Childhood Australia chief executive Sam Page said the other states and territories should work towards similar policies to NSW and Victoria.
"The ACT were ahead of the game for a long time because they had free public preschool provided as part of the education system when a lot of other states and territories didn't offer that," Ms Page said.
"I would suggest that it would be good for the ACT government to look at extending their universal preschool to five days a week and extending it to three-year-olds."
Ms Page said the fact the Liberal NSW government and Labor Victorian government had worked together showed that early childhood education was a bipartisan issue.
"The research evidence is absolutely rock solid that good quality preschool for the two years before children start full-time schooling is the best thing you can do for their long-term educational outcomes ... and it also returns a benefit to the economy because parents can work and that stimulates the economy," she said.
"Most developed countries in the world have universal preschool for three- and four-year-olds. It should be no different in Australia.
"This isn't a Liberal or Labor issue. This is a sensible investment for any country to make."
University of Canberra executive dean of education Professor Barney Dalgarno said the biggest challenge in rolling out the policy was overcoming the massive shortage of qualified workers.
He said the early childhood and primary teaching bachelor degree had 30 to 50 students each year but most of them went on to work in schools, rather than early childhood centres, because of low pay.
"You can provide more bricks and mortar funding to build more preschools attached to schools. You can ... [give] scholarships for people to study the degrees," Professor Dalgarno said.
"You've got to do something about the actual salary levels of teachers in early learning settings as well, otherwise the whole thing comes unstuck."
Professor Dalgarno said it was almost unprecedented to have this level of cooperation between states and the ACT will need to take close note because of its shared borders with NSW.
"It is a bit of a pity that the ACT wasn't able to be part of those conversations, but there is an opportunity for us to follow suit."
Katie Fahy has worked in the sector for 10 years and has seen the huge benefits her son has experienced in early childhood education.
"I can already see him developing those skills, like all the social skills that you need for making friends, understanding turn taking and sharing and all of those vital skills for being part of a group," Ms Fahy said.
She welcomed the announcement from Victoria and NSW.
"I think it'd be wonderful if the rest of Australia could get on board with it."
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