Three-year-olds need 600 hours of formal education per year: Aussie report

CANBERRA, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Every Australian of three years old should spend 15 hours every week in childhood education, according to a landmark report here 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.

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.

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.

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." Enditem