Free kindergarten care comes at cost of teacher shortage

IN the Queensland Government’s recent budget announcement, a large focal point was on a funding increase for kindergartenaged children.

From January 1, 2024, all children in Queensland who attend a government-approved program will be offered 15 hours of free kindergarten a week, equating to 600 hours per year.

While the announcement has been generally viewed favourably, experts are warning that labour shortages in early childhood could hinder the programs’ goals and objectives, outlining

Childcare with Sandie that more qualified educators are needed to accommodate for kindergarten students and their families.

It’s hard to see how the kindergarten program will meet its objectives, of children’s access

Council

Temporary closure of Tobruk 50 metre pool

Maintenance works will start at the end of this month to replace joint sealant on the 50 metre swimming pool at Tobruk Memorial Pool.

The 50 metre pool will be closed from Monday 31 July to Sunday 8 October as the pool needs to be empty for the maintenance works.

The works are part of scheduled maintenance, which needs to be undertaken to maintain a watertight seal, improve the visual appearance of the pool, and ensure the safety of patrons.

All other facilities, including the 25m outdoor pool, 25m indoor pool, toddler pool, Flowrider, Coaching Zone, fitness facilities, trampoline park and kiosk will remain open.

to high quality early years education, with such a labour shortage.

The free kindergarten program is great news for Queensland families for whom cost is a barrier to their child’s participation. But cost is only one barrier. Other barriers include availability of culturally appropriate welcoming services, and non-fee costs of attending early childhood, such as transport. And these barriers differ across geographic locations. While the expansion of the kindergarten program should help, more needs to be done to engage and support participation of children who are not currently attending services: In short, governments need to work with the sector to identify solutions to localised problems with attendance.

One of the biggest challenges facing early childhood across the country is the huge workforce shortage, particularly of early childhood teachers. It’s hard to see how the kindergarten program will meet its objectives, of children’s access to high quality early years education, with such a labour shortage.

A further challenge is that the funding is only for 7.5 hours a day. While this covers the day in a kindergarten early learning service, most children receive their early learning in long-day care services, which operate for up to 11 hours a day.

This disparity between hours and funding will bring further complications to an already complex system and may ultimately result in children actually receiving less hours of education than they currently do.

All Australian governments need to work together to address

Feedback wanted on Jeff Pezzutti Park plan

of Council’s website. The consultation period ends Monday 14 August.

the urgent shortage of educators, particularly early childhood teachers. We know that early childhood teachers are key to providing high quality early learning for children and their families. Currently, one in four long day care centres in Queensland are operating below the minimum requirements for teachers, because they are unable to find a teacher.

Sandie Wong is a professor in early childhood and co-deputy director of the Centre for Research in Early Childhood Education at Macquarie University

Improvement works

St, Cairns City: Water main replacement between Aplin St and Florence St. Traffic control and parking changes. Chaplain Ave, Manunda: Water main upgrade from Monday 1 July. Traffic control as required. Woodward St, Whitfield: Bank stabilisation works from 191 to 199 Woodward St from Monday 10 July. Traffic control as required.

For a full list of works visit Council’s website.

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