Hillcrest and Rivercrest Christian Colleges opt out of free kinder program

Two private schools in Melbourne’s southeast have opted out of the free kinder program, leaving parents more than $3000 a year out of pocket.

Angry parents have lashed out at two private schools for opting out of the free kinder program.

Angry parents have lashed out at two private schools for opting out of the free kinder program leaving them more than $3000 out of pocket per year.

Despite 96 per cent of eligible kindergartens opting into the program, the Herald Sun can reveal Hillcrest and Rivercrest Christian Colleges in Melbourne’s southeast will not be offering free kinder next year.

In a letter sent to parents seen by the Herald Sun, it said: “As private independent colleges, Hillcrest and Rivercrest Christian Colleges offer high-quality programs for three-year old and four-year-old kinder students, which cannot be offered tuition-free.”

It also said that parents whose children attend a childcare centre as well as kinder will have to pay additional charges up to $3000.

A mother, whose daughter attends Hillcrest Christian College, said she was “angered” the schools had opted out of the free kinder program.

“I don’t understand why the school won’t opt in to this program, it would save parents so much money,” she said.

“We have another child in grade 3 and the costs are adding up. We can’t fathom why families would be disadvantaged like this? I hope the schools can change their minds.”

Another mother, whose son attends the school, said parents were unhappy at the schools’ decision.

“Why should parents have to pay additional fees if their kids are attending kinder for two days as well as childcare on the other days, it doesn’t make sense,” she said.

CREST Education, who operate the schools, said they conducted a thorough financial analysis to determine whether participating in the free kinder program was a viable option.

They said the results of the analysis showed that the funding offered by the state government through the free kinder initiative would not fully cover the cost of the high-quality learning programs, Hillcrest and Rivercrest Christian Colleges deliver.

CREST Education executive principal Brendan Kelly said: “I think our parents would be more concerned about their children being short-changed in their learning, which could be a result of lowering resourcing levels to meet the Government’s funding conditions.”

“I don’t want to compromise the learning of our kinder kids by accepting a funding level that limits our program,” he said.

“As a low-fee, independent, Christian school, CREST Education endeavours to make high-quality education accessible.”

A Department of Education spokesman said: “Over 96 per cent of all funded kindergarten services in Victoria have opted into free kinder in 2023. The free kinder rate is set well above average kindergarten fees.”

“Services that choose not to opt into free kinder in 2023 will continue to receive all existing kindergarten funding streams and may still charge parent fees to cover their operating costs. These services are also encouraged to consider opting into free kinder in the future.”