Numerous Australian universities, including Southern Cross University (SCU), based in northern New South Wales with branches in most states, are offering students a Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education that can be completed in less than a year.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) obtained documents and information from former and current SCU employees that illustrate how the federal Labor government’s policies are pushing universities into short-cut vocational courses, using students as cash cows.
Other public universities offering a one-year (in effect 10-month) graduate diploma include Melbourne’s Victoria University, Central Queensland University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Edith Cowan University, Griffith University and University of Southern Queensland.
Private operators are also cashing in on intensifying staffing shortages in childcare centres. The ABC reported that nine new graduate diplomas in early childhood education have been approved by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) in the past year, with six being offered through private providers.
All these courses have received accreditation from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).
All offer one-year programs studying online and requiring students to do 60 days (12 weeks) practicum placements. A one-year course essentially equates to approximately 24 weeks of classes. The fees for students range from $4,650 for domestic students to $37,440 for international students.
The ABC reported significant concerns among SCU staff that student numbers in the graduate diploma had jumped from 200 to over 2,000, leading to a significant reduction in the quality of education.
While recent media headlines, and police and government reactions, have been concentrated on allegations of sexual abuse, the staffing crisis in childcare is long standing and points to deep systematic problems.
As stated on the World Socialist Web Site: “Successive federal and state governments—Labor and Liberal alike—have overseen the creation of a childcare system driven by market share, prices and profits. They have flooded the private sector with public funds with minimal oversight.”
Childcare workers are among the lowest paid in Australia. The WSWS article noted that for-profit providers control 75 percent of Centre Based Day Care. They are much more likely to suffer from huge turnovers in staff, extreme levels of casualisation, chronic understaffing and the hiring of underqualified or unvetted staff.
A workforce capacity report issued by the Albanese government last year noted that the sector needed 21,000 extra childcare educators to meet existing demand and an additional 18,000 to meet estimated unmet demand.
A snap poll conducted by the United Workers Union last year found that 60 percent of childcare workers planned to leave the sector within three years. With more than 260,000 people working in the sector, this suggests that more than 150,000 are planning to leave.
According to federal government regulations, at least 50 percent of educators must be diploma-level qualified or higher, and all other educators must be Certificate III-level qualified. However, the regulations allow centres to include staff working toward a qualification to count in meeting these requirements.
The for-profit sector takes significant advantage of this cost-cutting measure, with roughly 25 percent of their staff in the “working toward” category. That is, one quarter of their staff are trainees.
Last year, because of the staffing shortages, the Albanese government added childcare work to the Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL), which classifies skills that may allow overseas workers to be employed in Australia. This in turn suggests the possibility that migrant workers in the sector may be able to apply for permanent residency.
However, it is extremely unlikely that a worker in a standard childcare centre job would qualify for permanent residency. The income threshold for permanent residency is an annual salary of $73,150. By contrast, a worker with a diploma-level qualification could expect to be paid around $57,000 as a teacher, up to just over $70,000 as a childcare centre manager.
Nevertheless, the supposed route to permanent residency is being marketed heavily by international student recruitment agencies. To enrol, students must have an undergraduate level qualification and meet basic English requirements. Significantly, their undergraduate degree does not have to be in a related field. For example, a person with qualifications in IT or finance could qualify to enter the program.
The government’s workforce capacity report noted that almost 75 percent of early childhood worker qualifications have been issued by private institutions. Like the universities, many of the courses are offered primarily online with only mandatory minimum practical experience. Students do not get adequate training or experience.
Childcare experts and workers are warning that substandard training is putting children at risk. Regulatory documents released to the New South Wales parliament revealed widespread gaps in basic childcare knowledge, including not understanding child protection policies, mandatory reporting duties, or even safe sleep practices.
Other childcare qualifications are also being aggressively marketed to international students. According to the website hotcourseabroad.com, 39 public and private tertiary institutions in Australia offer a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care.
This qualification is considered adequate for entry-level roles in childcare centres. Many providers are private colleges. One example is Melbourne Polytechnic, which charges almost $74,000 for students to do its Certificate III course in nine months, which includes just four weeks of placement. After that, students would be qualified to care for children in a variety of settings, including Centre Based Day Care.
The childcare staffing crisis and the response by universities and other training operators have the same root cause, the capitalist profit system, which demands that even the most fundamental right to education, from early childhood to tertiary education, be turned to a source of profit.
In Australia, as elsewhere, successive governments, whether Labor or Liberal-National, have gutted public funding for education and training. At the same time, they have actively encouraged a rapid expansion of the private training sector and forced the chronically-underfunded public universities to become ever more dependent on international student fees.
Childcare should not be a luxury or a business opportunity. Nor should the education of childcare workers. The provision of high-quality education and training for all students should be a basic social right. And childcare education, like all education, should be in the hands of well-qualified teachers and support staff.
The Socialist Equality Party also upholds the right of workers from every country to live and work wherever they choose, with full legal, democratic and citizenship rights. First-class higher education and training must be available to all, free of all fees.