Expansion of the Let’s Read National Early Literacy Campaign will help give all children across Australia greater access to books, songs and nursery rhymes.

The Gillard Government is providing $1 million to enable early childhood educators, parents and carers access to Let’s Read resources.

Let’s Read was originally founded to give low income families with young children access to reading materials to help them develop the ability to name letters and play with sounds and words.

Minister for Early Childhood Peter Garrett said this extra funding will enable the program to be rolled out to all families.

Mr Garrett announced the funding at the opening of the 7^th Queen Elizabeth Centre (QEC) International Conference for early childhood educators.

“It’s vital that we address literacy early on in a child’s life. So far, more than 120,000 families have participated in the Lets Read project,” he said.

“This funding will help build the Let’s Read project which was originally created by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and The Smith Family.”

The funding will be provided to the Centre for Community Child Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), which has been involved in the project since its conception in 2004.

“At the heart of this project is a simple concept – to give the gift of reading,” Mr Garrett said.

“The support for projects such as these is another key element of the Government’s commitment to improving every school and ensuring every child gets a great education.

“This Government is delivering significant education reform – We have invested more than $65 billion in school education and we will contribute more than $23 billion in early childhood education and care.

“And we’ve announced the National Plan for School Improvement – under which every school’s funding will continue to rise through a needs-based model, providing more support for students who need it most.

“It is our goal that, by 2025, our school system will be in the top five in the world and schools are teaching students the skills they need to succeed in the Asian Century.”

For more information visit www.letsread.com.au