Labor will ramp up its pitch to families on education policy with a pledge to scrap upfront fees for students who become preschool teachers, escalating a row over a new $1.75 billion plan to help children learn more at a younger age.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will promise to waive upfront fees for 10,000 students who study early childhood education, claiming the move will prepare the workforce for an influx of children into preschools and kindergartens.

The scheme is the second Labor proposal in as many days, as Mr Shorten launches a policy contest on education in the face of taunts from the federal government over how he would fund the promises.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Prime Minister Scott Morrison dismissed the Labor idea to extend early childhood education to three-year-olds, warning on Thursday that Australians would face higher taxes under a Labor government to pay for the new measures.