Preschool Reform Agreement funding

The Northern Territory (NT) Government is strengthening preschool programs to increase participation and better prepare children for their first year of full-time school.

All states and territories have agreed to the Preschool Reform Agreement (PRA) 2022-2025.
This is a national agreement that recognises the importance of ECEC in providing lifelong benefits for our youngest learners.

Key reforms

The key reforms are:

• a ‘funding follows the child’ approach - funding is paid per child to services that provide a quality preschool program.
• national enrolment and attendance measures - to help us understand and focus on how we can improve children’s participation
• the Preschool Outcome Measure - a formative assessment tool for teachers and educators. This will help them understand a child’s learning and development against learning progressions. A national trial of this tool will happen in 2025.

Contact

You can contact the Department of Education and Training about preschool funding and the Preschool Outcomes Measure by emailing OEC.EYSS@education.nt.gov.au.