TAFE SA

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (14:55): My question is to the Minister for Education, Training and Skills. Can the minister update the house on the return of early childhood courses to TAFE SA?

The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills) (14:55): I thank the member for Waite for her question and for her interest in issues around early childhood, and, of course, TAFE as well.

As the Premier outlined earlier, it has been a very big week or few days in South Australia for early childhood education and care with the announcement of the Hon. Ms Julia Gillard as the royal commissioner for this government's royal commission into the delivery of universal preschool for three year olds.

Of course, as the Premier said, this is a big undertaking. It is a very big reform, the likes of which we haven't seen for decades and which is not without its challenges. Of course, members of this place will know that some of those challenges will include building the physical capacity in our system to make sure that we have the space to accommodate the three year olds who we know, or we hope, will take up the opportunity of universal preschool, but also around actually building the existing workforce to make sure that we have those skilled educators there to be able to educate and care for the three year olds who will, under this government's reform, have access to preschool.

Of course, we began work on making sure that we had that workforce capacity just weeks after coming to government. I was joined by the Premier then only a number of weeks after the state election at the TAFE CBD campus where we announced the return of the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care course, which is the primary qualification which our preschool staff have and which had been previously—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. B.I. BOYER: —offered by TAFE both in metropolitan and—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. B.I. BOYER: —regional—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. B.I. BOYER: Someone seems to be deeply upset.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer and the shadow treasurer are called to order. The minister has the call.

The Hon. B.I. BOYER: Thank you for your protection, Mr Speaker. We announced the return of Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, which had previously been offered at both metropolitan and regional TAFE campuses, but of course under the former Liberal government it was cut from metropolitan TAFE campuses, which was a very, very difficult policy decision—made by those opposite—to understand.

Certainly, it was not supported by the sector, and of course it really diminished the ability of future governments to be able to build the workforce that we need to deliver things like universal preschool for three year olds.

I am pleased to say that now we have brought that course back, and the interest in enrolments is very strong. In fact, I am pleased to announce that 61 students have enrolled in this semester. That is 61 desperately needed early childhood educators who will be on the path not only to a very rewarding career but also, I hope, will be part of the delivery of the election commitment from this government.

I can also announce today that 224 students have listed this course as a preference for semester 1 next year, which I think just goes to show how much interest there is not only in studying this course and this certificate III but also in the demand there is for that TAFE course.

Certainly on the day that the Premier and I stood up at the CBD TAFE campus to announce the return of a number of courses, including not only this one but also including Individual Support (Ageing, Disability), we were joined there by representatives from Helping Hand and Rembrandt Living, who spoke very passionately about why it was important to have TAFE still operating in this space, not just in regional South Australia, which we have maintained, but also in the metropolitan areas.

It is an exciting time in our education system. Of course, we need more early childhood educators now. We will begin—once we have the recommendations from the royal commissioner—rolling it out as quickly as we can, but I'm very pleased that TAFE will play its own role in building the skilled workforce that we need to make sure that we can deliver on that commitment.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: You're going to need a four-year degree. How are you going to get there by 2026—unless they're not teachers.

The SPEAKER: Order!