Mobile Early Childhood Services (MECS) Final Evaluation Report (April 2008)

This report is an evaluation of the Remote Mobile Early Childhood Services Program (MECS) program.

MECS is funded by the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) and delivered by the Northern Territory Department of Employment, Education and Health (NT DEET). This is a new role for DEET which has not run programs for children younger than preschool age in the past. As such, the MECS experience can provide a valuable example of interdepartmental collaboration. However, some of the problems the program has experienced may also be attributable to the lack of experience within DEET in managing such a non-school based program.

MECS targeted 9 communities and outstations in the Sandover (Soapy Bore, Ampilatwatja, Arlparra, Soakage Bore, Mosquito Bore) and Plenty Highway (Mulga Bore, Engawala, Irrilirree, Atitjere) region of the NT. The selection of these communities appears to have been based on advice of FaCSIA that this region needed such a program and evidence within DEET that younger than school aged children were attending preschool disrupting normal classroom teaching practices.

The main aim of the MECS program is to develop parent run playgroups supported by MECS program staff who visit each playgroup on a weekly basis. The longest running playgroup has operated for approximately 19 months, the newest playgroup for 8 months.