Preschool Fees

The NSW O'Farrell Government is introducing fees ($40 per day per child) for public preschool students from next year as part of its budget savings. These preschools were established in low SES communities to prepare children for primary school. Their goal has been to help these children catch up to their middle SES peers in school readiness and pre-literacy skills. The state government has argued that the social profile of some of these communities have changed and now enrol middle income children. Families will now be expected to pay fees if the government deems them as middle-income.

While low-income families may be excluded from these fees, the administrative burden it will place on them will result in many families simply not enrolling their children, compounding the disadvantage they face.

This user-pays approach is setting two damaging precedents for public education. Firstly, it reduces low income families to the recipients of charity through public education, instead of being citizens who have a right to public services.

Worse still, it seeks to establish a 'consumer-pays culture' within the provision of public education. It will be interesting to see whether these fees will add to the Department of Education's budget or go back to treasury.

The solution to this problem is to provide free public preschools to all children in NSW. This would be a major leap forward in education in NSW by ensuring that every child is ready for school. Both Western Australia and the ACT provide free public preschools which over 90% of children attend.

The NSW Coalition has an opportunity to leave a legacy by creating the best public education system in Australia. The first step would be investing in universal public preschools accessible to all children.