Relief bid for children’s services

THE Shire of Yarra Ranges is helping local preschools address an acute shortage of qualified early education staff, an issue affecting children’s services throughout the municipality.
The shire’s Family and Children’s Services department is currently seeking expressions of interest for a relief bank for qualified preschool teachers that could be used by local kindergartens to fill vacancies on a casual or permanent basis.
Yarra Ranges councillor Samantha Dunn said the shortage of preschool teachers had reached a critical point throughout the Shire of Yarra Ranges, and that the relief bank could assist many local preschools with staffing issues.
“Research shows that early childhood education is crucial for children and the employment of qualified staff is an important factor in establishing a high quality early learning environment,” Cr Dunn said.
“A number of preschools have been advertising for qualified staff for some months, with little success. Without staff, kinder programs are potentially threatened. We hope the relief bank may ease the pressure for many local preschools.”
Family and Children’s Services executive officer Christine Brown said funded preschool programs in stand alone kindergartens and childcare services were required to employ staff with appropriate early childhood qualifications.
“Many kindergarten committees have been forced to employ expensive agency staff or apply for an exemption from the State Government regulations to temporarily employ teachers without early childhood qualifications,” Ms Brown said.
“This creates inconsistency for children and families.”
Ms Brown said while there were many tertiary courses available in the preschool sector, supply of preschool teachers was not meeting the demand for qualified staff, particularly in rural and regional areas.
“Many graduates think Yarra Ranges is too far away and opt to work in municipalities in the inner or western suburbs,” Ms Brown said. “The reality is the Shire of Yarra Ranges in only 40 minutes from most eastern suburbs, boasts a beautiful natural environment and has the largest number of preschools in the eastern region, making it an ideal location for employment in the preschool sector.”