NSW community preschools will receive funding of $45.5 million for programs to increase the number of children attending preschool in the year before they start school.
Minister for Early Childhood Education Leslie Williams said the additional funding aims to boost the number of young children from low-income and Aboriginal families enrolled in the top two NAPLAN bands of schools.
“The initiatives announced today will increase the number of four and five-year-old children enrolled in quality preschool programs in the year before full-time school. The focus is on increasing enrolments of children from low-income and Aboriginal families, ensuring that cost or location are not barriers to participation,” Mrs Williams said.
The funding includes:
- $13 million over four years to increase base funding rates by 2.5 per cent
- $11 million for bonus payments of up to 15 per cent of a service’s base rate, to reward centres that enrol more four and five-year-olds for 15 hours per week
- $4 million over two years to provide business advice and support to preschools
- $5.5 million over three years to improve the collection of data from services
- $12 million over four years for the Preschools for Sustainable Communities program, to help maintain viability for community preschools in rural and remote areas.
The additional program funding commences in 2016.