The Murray Electorate Gets Five New Public Preschools

Independent Member for Murray, Helen Dalton welcomed the government’s announcement of five new public preschools in the electorate of Murray.

Nearly 50 per cent of new public preschools to be delivered over the next three years will be in regional and rural communities.

Beelbangera Public School, Hanwood Public School, Leeton Public School, Leeton Parkview Public School and Deniliquin Public School are those in the Murray electorate.

Ms Dalton said it was great news for her electorate.

“It will enable parents unable to afford other types of childcare to re-join the workforce,” Ms Dalton said.

The preschools will be co-located with existing schools, ensuring children are ready for kindergarten and will help busy working families with cost-of-living pressures, avoid the double drop-off, making the transition to school as seamless as possible.

Ms Dalton said there was still a drastic shortage of teachers within the electorate.

“There are currently seven vacant positions at Murrumbidgee Regional High Schools recently demerged to two sites in Griffith,” she said.

“Hopefully, this shortfall will be addressed soon with the government offering incentives to attract teachers to rural and remote communities like ours.”

The NSW Government has announced it has committed up to $29.4 million to expand the number of early childhood workers in NSW through a scholarship program.

Ms Dalton said she hoped that commitment was reflected in increased teacher numbers in rural and remote locations where they were most desperately needed.

“I will be monitoring this closely and making sure we get our fair share,” Ms Dalton said.

Minister for Education and Early Learning, Prue Car said postcodes should not act as a barrier to accessing the best start in life and every child should have access to high quality resources from a young age, including having access to preschool.

Minister for Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty said they had been listening to and learning from families, communities and expert educators and teachers as they worked towards universal preschool for every child in NSW.

• Topics:

• Government
• Education