Concerns have been raised that three-year-olds have been
“displaced” because of federal government regulations requiring kinders
to provide 15 hours a week for four-year-olds.
The increased hours, up from 10.75, will be mandatory next year.
Addressing last week’s Hobsons Bay council meeting, Cherry Lake
Ward councillor Sandra Wilson questioned whether the new regulations had
created a shortfall of three-year-old places, in particular outside of Williamstown and Newport.
“All the four-year-old kinder allocations have been made in
relation to the mandatory 15 hours of kindergarten that will be
introduced in 2014 … displaced three-year-old kinder services may have
occurred as a result of accommodating the mandatory 15 hours,” Cr Wilson
said.
The council heard that there had been “some displacement of the three-year-old groups but it has been well-planned for”.
Three-year-olds are expected to be accommodated in the
Williamstown Child Care Centre Co-operative building in Cecil Street and
Newport Gardens Early Years Centre next year.
