Early childhood education to become more affordable
Preschool fees will be cut by an average of 30 per cent, due to a $115 million funding boost for community preschools and long day care centres.
The fee reduction - down to an average of $22 a day - encourages parents to enrol their children in preschool for a minimum 15 hours a week. It also removes nearly all preschool fees for children from Aboriginal and low-income families.
NSW Premier Mike Baird said the increased subsidies enabled more children to participate in 600 hours of early childhood education a year, roughly 15 hours per week.
“Research shows that children who receive a quality early childhood education in the year before starting school are better prepared to transition to school and benefits carry through to adulthood,” Mr Baird said.
Starting from 1 January 2017, community preschools across the state who enrol four and five year old children for at least 600 hours in the year before school will receive increased subsidies from the NSW Government.