Same pay, same conditions: UniSA education experts want more for ECEC

Same pay, same conditions – that’s what experts from the University of South Australia (UniSA) are calling for ahead of the final report from the Early Childhood Royal Commission, which is expected to be released by the end of August. 

 

The Royal Commission will provide clear recommendations for children’s education in the early years prior to starting school, and while the South Australian government has committed to providing preschool for children from three years of age onward, there are concerns about how an already stretched early childhood workforce will cope. 

 

With insufficient staff to meet demand already an issue, how to attract more workers into the sector is a hot topic, and time and time again the subject of pay and conditions is a front runner in addressing the issue. 

 

Statistics report that less than a quarter of current teachers would recommend a career in teaching, and that seven in ten say that being overworked and stressed is stopping them from thriving at work.

 

Program Director for UniSA’s Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Master of Teaching (Early Childhood), Dr Susie Raymond, says the turbulent teacher conditions makes it hard to draw people into the profession.

 

“It’s no secret that teachers continue to be under significant stress. They have excessive workloads and high levels of burnout,” she said.

 

“They also work well above the hours for which they are paid, so when we’re talking about making the profession more appealing, there’s a long road to travel.”

 

“The starting point must be recognising, acknowledging, and valuing early childhood teachers who are already in the profession. And a big part of this is ensuring they are supported properly.”

 

Along with the call for better pay and conditions, Dr Raymond and her coworkers believe that there is a need for a dedicated birth-five degree to appropriately cater for SA’s youngest citizens.

 

“In South Australia, UniSA is the number one provider of education and we’re in the top 100 globally for education,” Dr Raymond shared, “and despite our degrees being recognised as world class, there is no degree solely dedicated to the birth to five age group.”

 

“We certainly have the experts to teach a birth to five early childhood education, but this requires the Teacher Registration Board of SA to work with ACECQA to accredit this degree and in turn register graduates.”

 

Such a move would also ensure that graduates could be employed by Government preschools and childcare centres with the same pay and conditions as any other teacher in SA, specifically primary and secondary trained teachers, she continued. 

 

“If we want to improve the outcomes for young children, then we must start with how we attract and train early childhood education teachers at university. While this may seem a challenge, it’s really an opportunity for SA to again become the leaders in how we think about and prioritise early childhood education for our youngest citizens.”