CHILDCARE THREATENED BY SCHOOL STIMULUS
10-September-2009
Thousands of families could lose vital childcare as a result of the Rudd Government’s problem-ridden school stimulus program, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Childcare Sophie Mirabella said today.
“There are grave concerns that many outside school-hours care programs and vacation care programs will suffer as a result of the Rudd Government’s determination to build 7,700 Julia Gillard memorial halls around the country,” Mrs Mirabella said.
“It is very clear that the Rudd Government has not thought through some of the consequences of this building program – particularly how it will affect childcare on school grounds.”
Mrs Mirabella said that Stepping Stones Children’s Services, a provider of 40 outside school hours and vacation care services, had already experienced the following problems:
· Forced to close a Vacation Care program on short notice because the demolition site would not be secured for the holidays.
· Forced to re-locate the after school program to an unsuitable and unsafe Art Room, because the Hall they used was being demolished.
· Forced to re-locate a service to a building where children were unable to do art and craft or consume food.
“Most before and after school care is conducted in school Halls – the very Halls being demolished or upgraded under Labor’s grand plan. This is causing a huge upheaval and putting childcare providers of these services in a terrible position.”
“Some of the rooms they are being moved to are not suitable and do not allow them to carry out a high quality program. Providers are rightly concerned that if one of the government’s Quality assessors comes to check, they won’t meet the safety or quality standards. And the irony is that it will be the Government’s fault!”
“This has the potential to affect hundreds of services around the country over the coming months – particularly vacation care services, as schools are less concerned about building work during the vacation period and there seems to have been little thought given to how or where these services will operate.”
Mrs Mirabella said one of the conditions under which the new Rudd Government Halls were being built was that they would be available to the community for use when not being used for school purposes.
“Again, this has the huge potential to impact on Childcare Services. If a local sporting club were to request use of a Hall after school hours, it would appear that they’d have to be given that right – and the childcare service would be left out in the cold.”
“This also has the potential to impact on licensing – as providers need to have certainty of premises to offer a continuous service. This has the potential to be really messy and complicated.”
“The Rudd Government clearly has a duty of care here. Childcare Minister Kate Ellis must get on top of this and address these concerns to ensure the safety, security, and availability of outside school hours and vacation care services throughout the coming months.”