NSW drought stricken preschools to receive $3 million funding

A $3 million community financial support package will be provided to preschools in the Kiama region of New South Wales to help with the impact that drought in the region has had on early childhood and education services.

Parliamentary Secretary for Education Gareth Ward MP said that these 2018 Drought Relief Payments will ensure early childhood education services can continue to operate during the adverse economic conditions associated with the drought period.

The following seven local community preschools will receive support:

• Kiama Preschool – $25,200
• Bomaderry Community Preschool – $24,300
• Jamberoo Community Preschool – $19,500
• Berry Community Preschool – $14,400
• Kangaroo Valley Preschool – $11,100
• Boori Preschool – $8,100
• Jerry Bailey Children’s Centre – $5,000

“Services can use this funding to assist families and children in a range of ways, including transport arrangements to maintain preschool participation, crisis planning or fee subsidies to further support families,” Mr Ward said.

“These payments will ensure that local community preschool services can continue to operate during the adverse economic conditions associated with the drought.”

NSW Minister for Early Childhood Education Sarah Mitchell said it is crucial the NSW Government continues to support families to ensure children always have access to top-quality early childhood education, no matter where they live or what their circumstances are.

“The NSW Liberals & Nationals understand there are numerous social and economic flow-on effects from the drought, which affect local businesses and local communities,” Ms Mitchell said.

“Our goal is to help alleviate some of the pressure on families by supporting early childhood services where attendance may have dropped due to socioeconomic pressures, and also to boost service operators coping with additional challenges,” she said.

Funding will be allocated to services based on their enrolment numbers and location, and will be scaled according to the level of drought intensity.

Further information is also available on the NSW Department of Education’s website.