Families’ long wait for free preschool

Surging demand for free preschool spots is leaving thousands of families missing out or stuck on waiting lists.

Albury Preschool Centre director, Jo Barton, second from left, alongside staff.

Surging demand for free preschool spots is leaving thousands of families missing out or stuck on waiting lists as parents try to switch from high-fee private daycare to public or community-run preschools.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the number of children enrolled in daycare-based preschool programs fell by 8000 between 2021 and 2022.

The figures also show 54.5 per cent of children enrolled in dedicated preschools paid no fees last year, compared to just 8 per cent enrolled in preschool programs in centre-based daycare services.

But parents and preschool operators are warning the spike in demand is leaving many families in limbo as they get stuck on waiting lists for months.

Preschool operators are warning that government initiatives to lower the cost of services are undermining high-quality providers and causing instability for families.

Albury Preschool in southern NSW has a waiting list of 150 children and has received funding to build two new classrooms.

Director Jo Barton said fee relief has increased without ensuring adequate infrastructure and staffing to support higher attendance at dedicated preschools. “We are not-for-profit but we’re still a small business and we have to budget and recruit staff. It’s hard to plan ahead and run a successful business if you don’t know what your budget is year to year,” she said.

“It’s not a very stable system.”

Ms Barton said longer preschool days implemented as a ­result of the Start Strong funding initiative had not improved the quality of learning.

“Originally we ran six-hour sessions but Start Strong funding was for 15 hours per week, so we now run 7.5-hour days and it’s too much for preschool-aged children,” she said. “We don’t expect primary kids to be at school longer than six hours, why do we expect this of our younger children? We understand working parents need longer days but additional care should be run as after-preschool care.”

The preschool’s current operational funding will not extend to cover the wage increases for early childhood teachers who hold the same qualification as primary school teachers.

“We are really concerned with the wage increases. Unless our operational funding is increased, we won’t be able to pay teachers after the wage increases,” Ms Barton said.

“We will also have difficulty competing with the primary school system when their teachers are paid more and have shorter teaching hours.”

The NSW Labor government moved last week to reduce pressure on stand-alone preschools by offering $500 vouchers to parents of three-year-old children enrolled in long-daycare preschool programs.

The preschool funding package also reserved $20m in capital funds to support new not-for-profit services in high-growth and regional communities.

In Tuesday’s budget, the NSW government maintained prior funding commitments for preschools, responding to the preschool “drought” with “the largest expansion of public preschools in NSW history”, according to Education and Early Learning Minister Prue Car.

Parents are also seeking higher-quality programs as preschools consistently outperform­ long daycare centres. The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority said just over half of all preschools ­exceed quality standards compared to one in four care centres.