The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, today welcomed the implementation of a key election commitment, the national rollout of the Australian Early Development Index.
The Rudd Government committed $15.9 million towards the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) being rolled out to all primary schools.
The AEDI will help us paint a better picture of the health and development of Australian children by the time they start school.
The results of the AEDI will help the Government provide better targeted services and support for all children in their early years.
The AEDI, managed by the Centre for Community Child Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in partnership with the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, will measure how communities support and develop children in their early years.
The AEDI information will be collected through a questionnaire, to be completed by teachers for children in their first year of formal schooling. Schools will be provided with funding for teacher relief to enable teachers to complete the questionnaire.
The questionnaire will cover physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, communication skills and general knowledge.
All parents, schools and communities will be encouraged to participate.
International evidence for investing in the early years in all aspects of a child’s development, health, education, family and community support is now overwhelming. It is particularly compelling for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The data collected through the AEDI can be used to inform communities about the health and development of children in their area and can be used to better target and develop support and services that can help children in their first five years of life.
The Rudd Government has worked closely with state and territory governments to deliver the AEDI to primary schools. The AEDI has been agreed by the Council of Australian Governments as a national progress measure of early childhood development.
Information packs are being sent to participating schools, with all questionnaires to be completed between May and July 2009. Preliminary community level data is expected to be available from late 2009.
Further information on the AEDI is available at www.aedi.org.au