Reject Preschool Fees

Federation is campaigning against the Government’s proposal that from next year fees will be charged in public preschools operated by the Department of Education and Community Services (DEC).

Public education must be free and accessible to all. The 100 DEC preschools were established to improve the educational opportunities for students in low socio economic areas, including communities which may be isolated and/or serve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. These schools are located in areas such as Boggabilla, Claymore, Doonside and Walgett. The overwhelming majority of these preschools are attached to public schools, which receive substantial additional state and federal funding aimed at providing more support to overcome educational disadvantage in their communities.

The Department has issued a schedule of fees to groups of schools based on their ICSEA rating. Students will be charged fees ranging from $40 per day to $1.00 depending on socio-economic status and Aboriginality. Some may be exempted from any fee. This will impose a huge additional administrative workload on schools. It will also leave principals open to complaints about the level of fees charged and/or exemptions provided.

It will create situation where parents with one student in preschool could be charged $40 per day while the child’s siblings enrolled in the primary school will have no compulsory fees.
Imposing a process for parents to prove they need fee relief could deter parents from even applying to enrol their children in preschools. This will undermine participation in preschools.
Minister Piccoli’s own media release acknowledged that NSW “lags behind other states and territories in both participation rates and affordability” in preschools. Charging fees in DEC preschools will exacerbate this situation.

The Minister has made it clear that the fees charged will not go to individual preschools and are not aimed at injecting more funds into the current system.

Preschool education in public schools must be free.

You are encouraged to send the following message to the Premier and Minister for Education.