MARIBYRNONG parents face an anxious wait ahead of the next round of offers for kindergarten places.
Preschool places are in hot demand with Maribyrnong Council receiving more applications for next year than the number of positions available.
A total of 702 applications were lodged for Maribyrnong’s 695 places, leaving distressed parents worried their children may miss out on a place.
Yarraville mother Sam McArthur said she was surprised to discover her son William had missed out in the first round of offers.
She said William was put on the waiting list with the council on his second birthday, the earliest date allowed.
Other parents at Merriwa Kindergarten, where William has been attending three-year-old kindergarten, asked if she had received any of her first three preferences but she had heard nothing at all.
Ms McArthur said at least three other children at Merriwa Kindergarten were in the same predicament.
“There is just so much demand and the system just seems a little ad hoc. When I asked about what happens with those who missed out on the first round they said they do what they can to find a place but there are absolutely no guarantees.”
New federal regulations are complicating this year’s wait for positions.
From January 1, kindergartens must provide programs for 15 hours a week for four-year-olds — up from 10.75 hours a week.
Mayor John Cumming said Maribyrnong had 17 community-based kindergartens, five private services and one run by Victoria University.
Cr Cumming said not every family offered a place in the first round took it up, freeing up places for second-round offers.
“As we are currently between the first and second-round offers, the numbers of children attending kindergarten in 2013 will not be known until second-round offers are completed,” he said.
About 90 per cent of families received their first preference in last year’s and this year’s allocations.
“Parents who are currently without a first-round offer should be assured that Maribyrnong Council is doing all it can to find kindergarten places for their children and that second-round offers will be issued in late September.”
Cr Cumming said the council was working to meet demand by opening the Clare Court Children’s Centre in Yarraville and planning similar hubs at Maidstone and Braybrook.
Kindergarten Parents Victoria chief executive Emma King said parents wouldn’t always gain their first choice but most children would find a kindergarten place.
