Early education: Lessons to learn.

If you’re a working parent in Tasmania, like me, you’ve probably asked yourself the same question a hundred times: why is finding before and after-school care harder than finding the last remaining Tasmanian Tigers?

It’s absurd. We have over 120 state primary schools across the island, yet most of them don’t offer wraparound care. Parents are expected to juggle drop-offs, pickups, and full-time work like it’s some sort of Olympic sport. And heaven help you if you live outside a major centre or have a child under three.

Meanwhile, politicians talk about “productivity” and “early education investment” like they’re distant concepts, instead of something we could be delivering right now, right here, with what we already have.

So here’s a radical idea: let’s actually do it.

If we’re serious about education, serious about equity, and serious about lifting Tasmania’s economic performance, then every single state primary school should offer:

• Before and after-school care
• Integrated pre-K programs from age 3 to Kindergarten
• Access to allied health and support staff on site
• A partnership with local family day care for kids under 3

We already have the buildings.

We already have the staff networks.

We already know the need.

What’s missing is the political will.

Right now, family day care is Tasmania’s hidden childcare engine. It’s flexible, community-based, and more accessible in regional areas. But we’re tying one hand behind its back.

The current model limits a single educator to caring for 7 children at a time. I say double that (with safeguards) by supporting dual-educator family day care setups, allowing 14 children to be cared for across a shared home-based service.

Both incumbent Jo Palmer and Labor’s education spokesperson Sarah Lovell are coy on Family Day Care. Minister Palmer doesn’t understand it, probably because it’s not shiny and new and a great photo op.

This isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about unlocking capacity and letting experienced educators grow their services and earn a living wage, especially in areas where traditional childcare centres aren’t financially viable.

This is about more than convenience. It’s about:

• Workforce participation: Thousands of parents, mostly women, are being sidelined because they can’t find care.
• Education equity: Kids who start learning earlier, with the right support, do better later. That’s not opinion, it’s fact.
• Cost of living: When care is nearby and consistent, families save money and time.
• Regional sustainability: A rural town with care options keeps its young families and attracts more. A town without? It empties out.

Tasmania needs to stop pretending we’re a small, special case. We need to start behaving like the rest of the country and demand systems that work and lead the pack with innovative solutions.

This isn’t about a shiny headline or a one off boost. It’s about investing in something that will actually transform our communities for the better, and for the long haul.

If we can fund stadiums, we can fund care.

If we can open schools, we can keep them open longer.

If we can talk about population growth, we can actually plan for the kids who are already here.

Let’s stop making it so hard to be a parent in Tasmania.

It’s time every school, and every child, got the support they deserve.