Govt discriminates against 'Playcentres'

Free ECE enrolments have topped 85,000, but more than 6000 three and four-year-olds attending quality education services still have no opportunity to access this government scheme.

Chris Carter announced recently that the number of centres offering the government policy has increased, but still has made no plans to include the nearly 500 Playcentres around the country in this policy.

“What is so surprising about the government’s position on Free ECE is that research and experience shows that Playcentre provides an excellent education for young children, yet the government is still only interested in fully funding services that take children away from their parents” said federation president, Marion Pilkington.

The government has repeatedly claimed that Playcentre is not included in the Free ECE policy because Playcentre charges low fees, so inclusion in the policy would not reduce the barrier to children attending.

However, this ignores the fact that Playcentre encourages it’s centres to manage their budgets responsibly, and so centres typically meet increased compliance costs by increasing the volunteer workload, rather than go into deficit.

“Currently our Playcentre members are having to spend a great deal of time on paperwork, management, and maintenance, while they would be better off focusing their energy on the children’s learning,” said Mrs Pilkington.

“Playcentre would use extra funding from the scheme to free up the parents’ time commitment, which would then make Playcentre a more viable education option for a larger group of parents.”

“Our experience, and research, shows that parents do a fantastic job of educating their children, especially when they are linked into communities for mutual support,” said Mrs Pilkington.

“It appears, from this policy, that the government is intent on undermining parents’ confidence, by claiming that only registered teachers can ensure quality education for children.”