Front, Celeste, Dandenong West Preschool president Allison D’Cruze-Alcock, Ariel, Jasmine, Naveen, and Movinya want the State Government to invest more into preschools.
By Shaun Inguanzo
WEARY Dandenong parents are slaving away for up to 40 hours a week to keep their local kindergartens running.
But there’s still enough strength remaining in the parent volunteers at Dandenong West Preschool as they prepare to lobby the State Government to place preschools under the Department of Education umbrella.
Currently, preschools are the responsibility of the Department of Human Services, under the control of Children’s Minister Sherryl Garbutt.
But Dandenong West Preschool president Allison D’Cruze-Alcock said the area’s poor families were struggling to pay the $130-a-term fee, and the preschool could not raise enough funds to replace a crumbling equipment shed.
Ms D’Cruze-Alcock said that as a volunteer president she was investing 40 hours of her time each week to keep the preschool running – a sacrifice that could be slashed with a proper management structure.
“If the State Government funded more for kindergartens under the Department of Education, perhaps we could afford to pay a bookkeeper. We could also pay someone to do the legal responsibilities,” she said.
Ms D’Cruze-Alcock said the Bracks Government was out of touch with parents and preschool communities.
“Because if the government was in touch, they would understand and appreciate that these everyday people are being expected to take on the immense responsibility of running preschools and offering services without the necessary resources.”
Kindergarten Parents Victoria, the peak body representing parents, is now running its ‘Bigger Slice of the Pie’ campaign that supports Ms D’Cruze Alcock’s position.
Acting chief executive David Amesbury said parents were ‘sick and tired of kindergartens being left behind with inadequate funding’.
Ms Garbutt has said that the Bracks Government would not switch control of kindergartens to the Department of Education for fear it would double-up on the school prep year.
