By Jessica Micallef
Additional funding has been provided for four-year-old kindergarten in the Macedon Ranges.
The state government last month announced that families would receive an extra $230 per child enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten for term three, to help reduce the cost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The extra funding is in addition to the free kindergarten families received in term two to give sessional kinder services funding certainty and to assist in declining enrolment numbers.
The four-year-old program will remain free in term three for those who have Commonwealth Health Care Card or Pension Card, identify as Aboriginal, or hold a refugee or asylum seeker visa under the existing Kindergarten Fee Subsidy Program.
Education Minister James Merlino said the additional funding is expected to save parents about half the cost of average kindergarten fees.
He said on average, families will only pay $23 a week for sessional kindergarten for term three.
“We are saving families hundreds of dollars and ensuring Victorian children can go to kinder and receive the crucial early childhood education they deserve,” he said.
“While early childhood staff are doing a brilliant job supporting children and their families, we are providing kinder services with extra funding to help maintain high standards of cleaning and hygiene.”
The council’s four-year-old kindergarten program has remained in full operation since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Registrations for the council’s three and four-year-old 2021 kindergarten are filling fast.
To register your child, visit mrsc.vic.gov.au/kinder-rego and complete the online form.
