Education Minister Blair Boyer writes to public OSHC services on quality, child safety

The Education Minister has written to every OSHC centre in the state with a stark warning.

Education Minister Blair Boyer has written to every public school offering out of hours care to remind them that “high quality and safe” care of children must be their “number one priority”.

It comes after children were reported missing from two OSHC centres in January and the sector watchdog warned in June about inadequate supervision and poor management of medicines at a growing number of services.

More than 47,000 children attend 155 public and 232 privately-run OSHC centres – most in the primary years.

Some are operated by schools and governing councils and others by private companies.

The sector is being examined as part of a royal commission into early childhood education and care, which is due to report by the end of this month.

Mr Boyer said OSHC “plays a vital role” for families and the economy by enabling parents to work past school pick up time, but the availability and quality of services was not consistent.

Education Minister Blair Boyer has written to leaders at all public out of school hours care services. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

He said the royal commission “will take a detailed look into how OSHC services can be improved in order to reach a greater number of families”.

In his letter to principals of public schools where an OSHC service is offered Mr Boyer says: “Our students deserve a high quality and safe OSHC environment, and I expect this to be the number one priority of all OSHC services”.

He also reveals that the Office for the Early Years is developing new training for OSHC staff on supervision, risk management and medical management.

OSHC directors and workers have told The Advertiser they feel taken for granted or treated like “babysitters”.

Many centres are at capacity or have waiting lists due to increasing demand from working parents.

OSHC staff are usually paid less than childcare workers or teachers, are not required to have the same level of qualifications and are responsible for a wide age range of children.

Each OSHC service is rated under the National Quality Framework.

In SA 21 per cent are exceeding standards (compared to 12 per cent nationally), 56 per cent are meeting standards (73 per cent nationally) and 23 per cent are working towards standards (16 per cent nationally).

Most centres open from around 7am to when school starts and after school until about 6pm.

SA students attend for an average of 13 hours a week and parents pay the lowest average hourly fee in the nation at $6.70, compared to the national average of $7.90.