Why SA parents are not ‘confident’ sending their kids to out of school hours care

The state government says the out of school hours care system needs more investment to fix “emerging and current” risks to SA students.

Out of school hours care can no longer be treated as the “poor cousin” of other early childhood services and will need more investment if families are to feel “confident” using it, the Education Minister says.

The state government wants to make OSHC available to more parents but Education Minister Blair Boyer concedes the current system is “inconsistent”.

He has also been warned by the watchdog that inspects childcare, preschool and OSHC centres about “emerging and current” risks in Education Department OSHC services.

Education Standards Board chief executive and registrar Kerry Leaver briefed Mr Boyer late last year and wrote to all OSHC services in February.

She said inadequate supervision and poor management of medicines for children attending OSHC centres were the greatest concerns.

Education Minister Blair Boyer: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

Mr Boyer said Ms Leaver’s briefing “reaffirmed” concerns he had held about inconsistency across OSHC services.

“We were already quite aware of the real variability (in OSHC) in terms of quality and … access, but also cost,” he said.

“There is an issue around the consistency … that should be there to give all parents in South Australia the confidence to use OSHC.”

There are about 385 OSHC centres in SA. Some are operated by schools and governing councils and others by third-party providers.

Services are often open from around 7am before school and until about 6pm after school.

Mr Boyer said there had been a “steady shift away” from public schools to the private sector in recent years and he believed a “key driver of that is busy working families, single parent families, who are unable to get the care for their kids before and after the traditional school day that enables them to go and do their paid employment”.

“If we don’t address that, that slide is going to continue,” he said.

In particular, Mr Boyer said “more investment” was needed in developing a qualified workforce to staff OSHC centres.

“It’s harder than ever to get the workforce and that is particularly true in OSHC and vacation care because they’re not paid as much and it is a really competitive job market at the moment,” he said.

John Gardner. Picture: MATT LOXTON

The concerns held by the ESB were first uncovered through board meeting minutes released to Opposition education spokesman John Gardner through Freedom of Information Laws.

“The level of demand for OSHC is only increasing,” Mr Gardner said.

“Centres are already reporting significant challenges in attracting appropriately qualified staff to meet their obligations. This must be a priority for government and the sector generally.”

OSHC is one focus area of the current royal commission into early childhood education and care in SA, being led by former prime minister and federal education minister Julia Gillard.

An interim report has recommended the state government provide more funding to the ESB to “ensure every early childhood education and care provider is assessed and rated at least every three years”.

That would include OSHC and vacation care services, preschools and childcare centres.

Mr Boyer said the government was “actively considering” that recommendation, and a plan to send Education Department staff to boost resources at the ESB.