Preschools and long day care services across NSW held a Red Day of Action to highlight the fact that, according to them, NSW spends less on early education than any other state and territory. 

Children, staff and parents at Young PreSchool wore red clothing to show how fired up they are about the lack of funding from the NSW Government. 

Red Day of Action protests across the state were accompanied by a rally and protest at Parliament House in Sydney from 7.30am.

Angie Milne of Young Preschool said it was just not good enough that the NSW Government spent less on early education per child than any other state or territory.

“We need greater investment in our children by the NSW Government,” she said.

“We know that children that participate in early education do better in school and in later life, but the NSW government has not increased funding despite this being the first recommendation of a review they commissioned into funding for early childhood education,” Angie said.

The government is also proposing changing how not-for-profit preschools and long day care services are funded, a move Angie Milne says will be bad for Young.

“The government has proposed removing funding for three-year-old children attending preschools,” she said.

“This means that Young Preschool will be forced to charge higher fees for three-year-old children. 

“They have also suggested that some preschools will receive less funding. If this occurs to the pre school our fees will have to increase for all ages,” Angie said.

She said a report producted last week by the Melbourne Graduate School of Education stated that, “to realise the potential of all students, children need access to high quality early learning programs from before they turn three until school entry.” 

“The NSW Government has over a number of years spent less on early education and care than any other state and territory in Australia,” she said.

“This has meant higher preschool fees, and subsequently lower participation in early education than any other state or territory,” Angie said.

Australian three and four year olds are engaged in formal early education at one of the lowest rates in the world, and NSW has the lowest rates in Australia, she explained.

“The OECD report Education at a Glance 2013 showed that only 13 per cent of Australian three-year-olds and 67 per cent of four-year-olds,” Angie said.

“The OECD reported that Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test scores have shown that children across the world who access early education have improved  cognitive abilities and higher reading abilities at age 15.

“Children and families at Young PreSchool will be participating in the Red Day of Action to ensure that they and future children of Young will continue to get access to the benefits of early education and care,” she said.

For more information contact Angie Milne on 6382 1264