Early childhood education focuses on cost and ignores quality, a new report from Victoria U’s Mitchell Institute finds. According to Kate Torrii, Stacey Fox and Dan Cloney, “supports that build the capability of the educator workforce have not yet been embedded effectively across the early education workforce.”

They call for a review of pre-service university and VET qualifications to ensure they focus on ways to develop children’s learning and access to professional learning for ECE workers.

“The evidence is clear that quality in early learning is driven by educators who can provide effective learning opportunities and emotionally supportive interactions with children. In order to lift quality across the system, supports that strengthen early childhood educator capability must be a core focus.”