Access to quality early childhood education is important. Services need to be available and they must be of a high quality. Parents must also be supported to make choices. The Department of Education has a wide range of information to assist parents with their decision-making.

There is a shared responsibility among parents, the community, services and governments, to ensure access to early learning for more children. It's in the interests of families, early childhood services and community groups to support children to attend Early Childhood education, to assist with their preparation and transition to school and to optimise engagement in organised learning environments.

A child's participation in an organised early childhood education program assists in the development of their cognitive abilities, and also helps with enhancing social and emotional skills while interacting with their peers.

Research strongly supports the benefits of enrolling children for 600 hours in the year before school so they arrive at school ready to participate in ongoing learning.

Early childhood education helps children by:

• creating a life-long passion for learning
• helping them develop social skills
• encouraging the development of fine motor and sensory skills
• fostering language development and vocabulary
• priming children to be creative
• equipping them to cope with problem solving.

Parents are encouraged to strengthen their child's educational journey by learning more about why enrolling them in an early childhood education program is important for future learning.

More information is available about the importance of early education to help children to start strong.