Canberra Feb 1 (IANS) All three-year-olds in Australia should spend 15 hours every week in childhood education according to a landmark report here on Thursday.
The "Lifting Our Game" report released on Thursday by a coalition of Australian state and territory governments recommended that child care have a greater focus on education Xinhua news agency reported.
The report acknowledged that rolling out 600 hours per year of education for three-year-olds was a big task but said there was clear evidence it would improve long-term results.
Under the current system the report found that significant investment in early childhood education is "predominantly directed to facilitate parental workforce participation".
"The review considers this to be a missed opportunity " the report said.
"It is possible to reap a double dividend from this investment to support a child s learning and development as well as a parent s workforce participation."
Australia is among the worst nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for investment in early childhood education.
It also ranks poorly for the number of children who access pre-school education.
The state and territory governments that commissioned the report will use it to try and come to a long-term agreement with the federal government on funding for early childhood education.
It cited studies that found that investing in early childhood education provided a return of two to four times the cost.
"Quality early childhood education and care is best considered as an investment not a cost " it said.
"Almost every other developed nation in the world has come to the same conclusions -- almost all invest more than Australian governments do and provide at least two years of early childhood education. The case for investment is strong."
--IANS
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