Submission on National Skills Strategy - Nov 2015

December 1, 2015

Start Strong recently made a submission to the Department of Education and Skills in relation to the development of a new National Skills Strategy to 2025.

Our submission focused on three broad issues:

• The potential contribution of early years services to the National Skills Strategy, as the first stage of the education system.

• The skill levels of early years educators.

• The barrier to labour market participation created by the high cost of childcare

Our submission also highlighted evidence that the economic return to investment in children’s early years is higher than the return to investment in later childhood (see chart), because the development of a child’s skills builds on skills developed at a younger age – skills such as self-regulation, curiosity and perseverance, which are both important in themselves and that help children make the most of their later education.

Read Start Strong Submission on the National Skills Strategy, November 2015 (6 pages PDF).