Kindergarten fees will be capped at about half price for sessional kindergartens in Victoria in term three.Credit:Luis Ascui
But parents and carers will be required to meet about half the cost of their pre-COVID-19 kindergarten fees next term.
Under the initiative,kindergarten will remain entirely free in term three for healthcare-card holders,Aboriginal people and those who hold a refugee or asylum seeker visa.
Part of the funding package will also go towards extra cleaning for kindergartens.
David Worland,chief executive of the Early Learning Association Australia,said kindergartens were still feeling the strain of reduced income,with attendance roughly 80 per cent of its pre-COVID-19 levels. Attendance fell to as little as 5 to 10 per cent at the peak of the pandemic,he said.
He warned that a second wave of the virus or any deepening of the economic recession could put some early-learning centres at risk of closure.
“The sector is certainly strained,whether you’re a long-day-care provider or a sessional kindergarten provider,” Mr Worland said. “Certainly the measures at a state level take some of the risk out of it for families and providers,but does it take all of the risk out? Unfortunately,no.”
Education Minister James Merlino said the funding would provide $230 per child for term three,which is expected to save parents about half the cost of average kindergarten fees. This would mean that on average families would pay $23 a week for sessional kindergarten in term three,he said.