SYDNEY: Under a radical overhaul of the states' education systems, all children in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria – Australia's two most populous states – would be able to attend play-based learning for free in the year before they start their first formal year of primary school.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet  reportedly announced their joint long-term policy commitment on Thursday, adding that both states will "embark on the greatest transformation of early education in a generation." For all four-year-olds, the programme will consist of a year of play-based learning.

In Victoria, it will be known as "pre-prep," and in NSW, it will be known as "pre-kindergarten."  "Every kid in Victoria and NSW will benefit from a full year of play-based learning before their first year of school in the next ten years," the Premiers declared.

By 2030, the NSW budget will have put aside more than A$5.8 billion ($4 billion) over a ten-year period to implement a universal pre-kindergarten programme.

Perrottet said it will ease children's transition to kindergarten, which NSW children can begin at the age of five.  Because Victorian children begin kindergarten at the age of three or four, the Pre-Prep curriculum will be administered through kindergartens and lengthy childcare centres in Victoria.

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