Local kindergarten students could lose five hours of learning a week if the federal government doesn’t renew an education funding agreement by the end of the year.
Swan Hill South Kindergarten teacher Jenny Nethercote said she was passionate about the issue and hoped the funding wouldn’t be cut.
“For vulnerable and low-income families in our community who can’t afford extra costs of early learning education, this funding is extremely important,” she said.
“Everyone deserves to have access to affordable early learning education.”
Currently all four-year olds in Victoria have access to 15 hours of preschool education every week.
Under the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (NPAUAECE), the state government pays two-thirds of kindergarten funding while the federal government pays the other one-third.
The NPAUAECE agreement is set to finish at the end of this year unless the federal government renews it.
To read more about this story, grab a copy of Monday’s Guardian (February 6).
