CHILDCARE reform is well-meaning but too much of the cost is being dumped on parents.
New staff-child ratios and improved staff training create financial burdens kindergartens and the many other childcare facilities can well do without.
They must pass on the cost of running a system that is already struggling to cope with demand.
Mums and dads are being hit left, right and centre.
The State Government will stop funding the hugely popular Take a Break occasional childcare program by the end of this year.
Some are already closing and parents are now looking for alternative care, which simply isn’t there.
If the cost and availability of childcare isn’t problematic enough, the Federal Government will increase four-year-old kinder hours from 10 to 15 by 2013.
Grants are available for kindergartens to extend or renovate to make room.
After all, they don’t want to cut back on existing three-year-old programs to make room. But this is fast becoming a reality. A kindergarten in Bayside recently returned its $200,000 grant because the money isn’t enough to cover the extension.
Instead, it will cut back its threeyear-old kinder program.
Affordability is the key. What good is a gold-plated preschool service that can’t cope with demand and that few can afford.
Grants are available for kindergartens to extend or renovate to make room.
After all, they don’t want to cut back on existing three-year-old programs to make room. But this is fast becoming a reality. A kindergarten in Bayside recently returned its $200,000 grant because the money isn’t enough to cover the extension.
Instead, it will cut back its threeyear-old kinder program.
Affordability is the key. What good is a gold-plated preschool service that can’t cope with demand and that few can afford.
Childcare is a right, not a privilege.
Murchidson Pre-School take part in Operation Big Fridge
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