Up to $25,000 of financial support is now on offer for aspiring early childhood educators and teachers in NSW, as the Department of Education continues to boost staff numbers in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector.
Applications for the 2022-23 Early Childhood Education Scholarships Program and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Early Childhood Education Scholarships Program opened today to help students entering the workforce to enhance their skills, thanks to the $281.6 million Workforce Package to attract and retain ECEC staff over the next 4 years.
Successful scholars would receive a boost of up to $25,000 to begin or complete an ECEC bachelor degree at TAFE or university. A $5,000 incentive annually over 4 years ($20,000) may also be available to help keep them working at a community preschool, mobile preschool or long day care service once they’ve finished their degree.
Deputy Secretary, Education and Skills Reform, Lisa Alonso Love, said this generous scholarship program is just one of a number of important strategies the Department has to address current workforce supply issues.
“The Department values our early learning professionals and understands the need to attract more people to the industry to create a brighter future for all children and their families as part of our Early Years Commitment,” she said.
“Our vision is to have a highly qualified and sustainable workforce, including more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood teachers as a priority, across the state.
“Everyone deserves access to high-quality education and this scholarship program ensures people, no matter where they live, can access early childhood education qualifications, with one third of all successful scholars in the last round from regional and remote areas across the state,” Ms. Alonso Love said.
“$15.9 billion has been committed to deliver a brighter future for every child in NSW through a revolutionary transformation of early childhood education, child development and women’s economic participation over the next decade.”
439 scholarships were awarded in a ‘turbocharged’ first round of the scholarships program in 2022.
Applications for Round 2 of the Early Childhood Education Scholarships and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Early Childhood Education Scholarships program are open from Tuesday 2nd August 2022 and close on 12 September 2022.
