The sites for Sydney’s new public preschools revealed

The NSW government has revealed the sites for its long-touted 100 new public preschools, with the majority to be co-located at primary school sites to help families avoid double drop-offs and to make the transition to kindergarten as seamless as possible.

Nearly $770 million will be spent on delivering the new preschools by 2027 in the areas of greatest need, a key election commitment from Labor. However, the plan is far less ambitious than the Coalition’s pledge for 500 centres.

Metropolitan preschools will be primarily in western Sydney, the south-west and north-west, including those attached to new schools such as the Carter Street precinct near Sydney Olympic Park and Gables in the north-west.

The government says co-locating public preschools with existing schools will also assist working families with cost-of-living pressures.

Premier Chris Minns used the Labor Party’s country conference in Nowra on the weekend to announce that 49 of the new preschools would be located outside Sydney in “regional cities, remote areas or very remote areas”.

“These places were selected by a departmental panel – this is important to say because of the record of pork-barrelling and political oversight by the previous government,” Minns told party faithful.

Premier Chris Minns.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Independent infrastructure expert Abigail Goldberg was appointed to oversee the selection of sites from 1670 public primary schools. Goldberg considered educational needs, child development and socioeconomic data, preschool demand and infrastructure feasibility.

The government says the investment is the “largest made by any government in NSW’s history”.

As part of its investment in early childhood, the government will also spend $60 million to build and upgrade 50 preschools on non-government sites in areas of greatest educational need.

The government has also committed up to $29.4 million to expand the number of early childhood workers in NSW through a scholarship program, which it says has seen a record number of applications. Meanwhile, $17 million has been set aside to support capital works for early childhood services in areas of need.

The former Coalition government vowed to roll out 500 preschools, announced just weeks before last year’s election in a bid to fast-track its policy of offering free pre-kindergarten to all four-year-olds.

Labor backed the pre-kindergarten policy but has repeatedly warned that 500 was not realistic, describing it as “a last-minute announcement made on the eve of an election, with zero consultation and no proper planning”.

Late last year, the NSW government announced an initial 10 public preschool sites, seven of which are in Sydney.

“We are committed to working hard to deliver high-quality education and closing equity gaps, so more families and children in NSW can access early childhood public education,” said Department of Education secretary Murat Dizdar.