By JESSE GRAHAM
Strap: Federal Government announces two years funding for kindergartens…
AFTER months of uncertainty, the Federal Government has come through with essential funding to keep kindergartens running 15 hours of services for four-year-olds.
In the Yarra Valley, the announcement last week meant relief to pre-school teachers and the parents of the children they teach, with the decision being hailed as a success on all fronts.
On 3 May, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the government would continue its funding for one third of the 15 hours of kindergarten for the coming two years.
The announcement was met with celebration by the Yarra Ranges Council, which had advocated for the funding to be confirmed as part of a Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) campaign.
“The announcement is a win for Yarra Ranges families who would have faced a significant fee increase if the Federal Government had not renewed its funding agreement,” Yarra Ranges Council’s director of Economic and Social Development, Ali Wastie, said in a statement.
Currently, the State Government pays for 10 hours of kindergarten per week for four-year-olds, while the Federal Government contributes for the remaining five.
The funding comes under the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education, and was due to expire in December this year – it will now run until the end of 2017.
KinderLink manager Jacinta Graham said that kindergartens around the Yarra Ranges and the state had restructured their businesses, including staff hours, to accommodate for teaching 15 hours.
Mrs Graham said if the funding had stopped, fees would have risen by about $1000 per child, or the kindergartens would have had to restructure again to accommodate the change, leading to potential job losses.
Healesville preschool teacher Julie (surname withheld), told the Mail there was hope that the government extending the funding until the end of 2017 would set a precedent and make it difficult for future governments to cut the funding.
“I think that’s the hope of the early childhood sector,” she said.
“It will have been going for four and a half to five years, and parents are going to expect it is normal to have 15 hours.
“It would be very unpopular for politicians at that time to try and cut it back to 10 or 11 – I think while this doesn’t guarantee it going on forever, it is very slanted towards putting pressure on politicians to maintain it as the norm.”
Julie said the additional contact hours for children was proven to help their learning throughout their lives, and left them better prepared for the transition to primary school.
“The research is showing quite clearly that if children have increased hours in a structured, play-based early childhood setting, then they are getting higher rates of success in their transition to school,” she said.
“Because they’re used to being away from home and in a classroom for longer hours, school isn’t such a shock to their system.”
She added that the additional hours helped families where parents worked and may be able to take on more shifts, due to the longer preschool hours.
Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos said the funding being confirmed was a “win”, but also said she was disappointed it would not continue indefinitely.
“While a two-year funding offer is an improvement upon last year’s one-year reprieve, it just delays the uncertainty about the future of kinder funding until 2017,” she said.
“If the Abbott Government was genuine about providing high-quality early childhood education, it would agree to an ongoing funding agreement.”
Eildon MP Cindy McLeish said the funding would help children, but raised concerns about kindergarten resources, under the recently released State Budget.
“I will certainly be making sure that the government’s eye is on the capacity and resources,” she said.
