The National Quality Framework (NQF) is part of the Australian Government's agenda for early childhood education and child care focused on providing Australian families with high-quality, accessible and affordable integrated early childhood education and child care. The NQF aims to raise quality and drive continuous improvement and consistency in education and care services through:
The National Quality Framework took effect on 1 January 2012 with key requirements being phased in over time. Requirements such as qualification, educator-to-child ratios and other key staffing arrangements will be phased in between 2012 and 2020. [1]
Education in Australia encompasses the sectors of early childhood education (preschool) and primary education, followed by secondary education, and finally tertiary education, which includes higher education and vocational education. Regulation and funding of education is primarily the responsibility of the States and territories; however, the Australian Government also plays a funding role.
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th century in Germany, Bavaria and Alsace to serve children whose parents both worked outside home. The term was coined by German pedagogue Friedrich Fröbel, whose approach globally influenced early-years education. Today, the term is used in many countries to describe a variety of educational institutions and learning spaces for children ranging from 2 to 6 years of age, based on a variety of teaching methods.
National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved through assessment and training. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF), although the term "NVQ" may be used in RQF qualifications if they "are based on recognised occupational standards, work-based and/or simulated work-based assessment and where they confer occupational competence".
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), child care typically refers to the care provided by caregivers that are not the child's parents. Child care is a broad topic that covers a wide spectrum of professionals, institutions, contexts, activities, and social and cultural conventions. Early child care is an equally important and often overlooked component of child's developments.
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school. It may be publicly or privately operated, and may be subsidized from public funds.
A national qualifications framework (NQF) is a formal system describing qualifications. 47 countries participating in the Bologna Process are committed to producing a national qualifications framework. Other countries not part of this process also have national qualifications frameworks.
The Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) was a department of the Government of Australia.
The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is a statutory body, regulated in terms of the National Qualifications Framework Act No. 67 of 2008. It is made up of 29 members appointed by the Minister of Education in consultation with the Minister of Labour. SAQA is mandated by legislation to oversee the development and implementation of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).
Child Care Management System or CCMS, is an Australian national child care system that aims to bring all approved child care services online.
The Alannah & Madeline Foundation is a national Australian charity which was launched on 30 April 1997.
The National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) was a non-profit organization based in Sydney, Australia, in operation between 1993 and 2011. The Council was funded by and accountable to the Australian Government and was responsible for administering Child Care Quality Assurance (CCQA) for the following children's services in Australia:
The Department of Education is a ministerial department of the Queensland Government responsible for the administration and quality of education in Queensland, Australia. The department is composed of two separate portfolios, Education Queensland and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). The department also encompasses the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, a separate statutory authority responsible for creating syllabuses, curriculums, and assessment.
The Early Years Learning Framework, together with the National Quality Standard, forms the policies around early childhood education in Australia.
The National Quality Standard is the benchmark for the quality of Early Childhood Education & Care in Australia.
The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) is an independent statutory authority that assists governments in implementing the National Quality Framework (NQF) for early childhood education and care throughout Australia. Established in 2012, the authority works with the federal, state and territory government departments to:
Collette Tayler was an Australian academic and researcher whose worked influenced early childhood education policy. She held the Chair of Early Childhood Education and Care, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, at the University of Melbourne for ten years.
Jane Torr is an Australian academic in the fields of early childhood language and literacy development in home and early childhood education and care settings. She is an honorary associate in the department of educational studies at Macquarie University, where she has been teaching and researching for over 30 years. Torr’s research draws on systemic functional linguistic theory to explore the relationship between context and meaning in adult-child interactions, and the implications for children’s learning. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, as well as publications in professional journals.
Early childhood education in the United States relates to the teaching of children from birth up to the age of eight. The education services are delivered via preschools and kindergartens.
The Survey of Teachers in Pre-Primary Education (STEPP) is the first international survey for low-and-middle-income countries designed to collect information that is known to affect the quality of pre-primary education from pre-primary teachers and centre heads. The collected information concerns training and professional development, pedagogical and professional practices, working conditions and job satisfaction, and characteristics of pre-primary personnel and the settings in which they work.