Early Childhood Resources Hub to close as of 1 October 2020

The Early Childhood Resource Hub (ECRH) is set to close as of 1 October 2020 according to the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority’s (ACECQA) latest newsletter and a news release on the ECRH website. 

The ECRH, which is managed by Education Services Australia, a national not-for-profit education service provider, was funded in 2014 to develop, host and source content for ECEC professionals who at that time were experiencing difficulties in accessing resources to assist with their understanding of the relatively recently implemented National Quality Framework (NQF) and other early childhood issues. 

The hub contains a range of different information for ECEC professionals on subjects including but not limited to the NQF, the National Quality Standards and approved learning frameworks as well as having a resources section that includes fact sheets, case studies, articles, learning materials and professional learning modules.  

Since it was founded however, the extent of equivalent resources to be found on the ACECQA website, particularly around the NQF, NQS and learning frameworks have become increasingly comprehensive and crucially is always up to date raising questions as to whether the ECEC community may be better served by streamlining the two separate resources into one platform. 

With the decision now made, ACECQA will, going forward, become the primary repository for information, resources and materials associated with the NQF, Qualifications, Assessment & Ratings and more. 

That being said, there is still some uncertainty as to where the over 70 free professional learning modules on the ECRH will be housed. These will not be transferred to ACECQA at this juncture. 

In the meantime, the ECRH noted that educators “are encouraged to complete their Professional Learning Modules by 30 September 2020” and that “further information about the future of the Professional Learning Modules will be available in the coming weeks.”

To visit the ACECQA website please click here.