While the newspaper headlines suggest confusion over whether he quit or whether he was dumped, suffice to say Eddy Groves and his former lady love have been removed from all positions of power at ABC Learning.
It appears after continued destabilisation courtesy of the global credit crunch, which started to have its effects on ABC Learning earlier this year, our favourite helicopter-navigating, cowboot-wearing early childhood 'advocate' has been taken out. Apparently repeated failures to lodge accounts have sealed the deal.
As it happens it was only yesterday I was reading about Dr Le Neve Groves and her various roles in the company, including CEO of Education and Principal of the National Institute of Early Childhood Education, a place where ABC trains their own (always struck me as rather cult like), and with a PhD in early childhood to boot. So as ABC Learning announces its decision to replace Eddie with Rowan Webb, the former CEO of Colorado group (yes the shoes and lifestyle gear) I'm wondering if we shouldn't be getting a little nostalgic for the Groves, who at least had some dedication to early childhood?
Nah!
I am not opposed to privatisation or market principles as a rule. Privatising childcare (read children) was always going to be an ethical minefield, however if the markets had worked it could've been a subdued tone of discontent. However the market has spectacularly failed in childcare. How so? Let me count the ways....!
Despite providing much needed places and critical infrastructure, which is a virtue of privatisation we can't ignore, it has failed to push up quality and meet actual demand. Privately owned for-profit centres have been involved in actively arguing for maintenance of high child:staff ratios in children's services so it doesn't negatively impact their expenditure and consequently need to be passed on to shareholders. Also known is their tendency to hire the cheapest staff, therefore the least qualified staff they can get away with. In addition there's a practice amongst private for-profit centres of keeping places for the under-3's relatively low because the costs are higher. Hence our crisis in places for children under 3, which gets pushed on to other centres. A few weeks ago I popped into Lady Gowrie (now known just as Gowrie) in Melbourne and while waiting for something unrelated, I asked about their waiting list. Over 600, mainly babies and toddlers places needed. I wondered at the time whether I should try and engage in the logistical difficulty of putting a child I've yet to conceive on the waiting list!
Emma Rush and Christian Downie released a report last year into ABC Learning for the Australia Institute and they found that corporate chains provided the lowest quality of care in comparison to community owned non-profit centres and independent private centres. Additionally it has always been rather difficult for undergrad early childhood students to complete practicums in ABC Learning centres with an apparent code of silence around curriculum and general management issues. So much for aiding the professionalisation of the sector, surely an ethical priority for the largest childcare provider in the world...
And I could go on...
Despite the latest developments for Groves and ABC Learning's precarious position this does not mean the end of private childcare as we know it. Buying out ABC Learning and other private, commercial providers would be silly economics for the Federal government in hard financial times globally and locally. However with 260 new centres across the country promised by the Federal government over the next four years (38 in this Budget) and a focus on integration hopefully some balance might be restored to the sector and the positive effects of public and private investments might get closer to realisation.
It appears after continued destabilisation courtesy of the global credit crunch, which started to have its effects on ABC Learning earlier this year, our favourite helicopter-navigating, cowboot-wearing early childhood 'advocate' has been taken out. Apparently repeated failures to lodge accounts have sealed the deal.
As it happens it was only yesterday I was reading about Dr Le Neve Groves and her various roles in the company, including CEO of Education and Principal of the National Institute of Early Childhood Education, a place where ABC trains their own (always struck me as rather cult like), and with a PhD in early childhood to boot. So as ABC Learning announces its decision to replace Eddie with Rowan Webb, the former CEO of Colorado group (yes the shoes and lifestyle gear) I'm wondering if we shouldn't be getting a little nostalgic for the Groves, who at least had some dedication to early childhood?
Nah!
I am not opposed to privatisation or market principles as a rule. Privatising childcare (read children) was always going to be an ethical minefield, however if the markets had worked it could've been a subdued tone of discontent. However the market has spectacularly failed in childcare. How so? Let me count the ways....!
Despite providing much needed places and critical infrastructure, which is a virtue of privatisation we can't ignore, it has failed to push up quality and meet actual demand. Privately owned for-profit centres have been involved in actively arguing for maintenance of high child:staff ratios in children's services so it doesn't negatively impact their expenditure and consequently need to be passed on to shareholders. Also known is their tendency to hire the cheapest staff, therefore the least qualified staff they can get away with. In addition there's a practice amongst private for-profit centres of keeping places for the under-3's relatively low because the costs are higher. Hence our crisis in places for children under 3, which gets pushed on to other centres. A few weeks ago I popped into Lady Gowrie (now known just as Gowrie) in Melbourne and while waiting for something unrelated, I asked about their waiting list. Over 600, mainly babies and toddlers places needed. I wondered at the time whether I should try and engage in the logistical difficulty of putting a child I've yet to conceive on the waiting list!
Emma Rush and Christian Downie released a report last year into ABC Learning for the Australia Institute and they found that corporate chains provided the lowest quality of care in comparison to community owned non-profit centres and independent private centres. Additionally it has always been rather difficult for undergrad early childhood students to complete practicums in ABC Learning centres with an apparent code of silence around curriculum and general management issues. So much for aiding the professionalisation of the sector, surely an ethical priority for the largest childcare provider in the world...
And I could go on...
Despite the latest developments for Groves and ABC Learning's precarious position this does not mean the end of private childcare as we know it. Buying out ABC Learning and other private, commercial providers would be silly economics for the Federal government in hard financial times globally and locally. However with 260 new centres across the country promised by the Federal government over the next four years (38 in this Budget) and a focus on integration hopefully some balance might be restored to the sector and the positive effects of public and private investments might get closer to realisation.
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