Enrolments in sessional kindergartens in Victoria are on the rise, according to new statistics from Preschool Australia.
The statistics reveal how many children were enrolled in, and attended, teacher led government funded early childhood education programs (called kindergarten in Victoria) in the year before they attend school.
Overall kindergarten enrolments in Victoria increased by over two percent between 2021 and 2022, bucking the national trend of a decline in kindergarten enrolments. Enrolments in sessional kindergartens in Victoria have increased by 10% from 2021 to 2022.
“We welcome the resurgence in kindergarten enrolments in Victoria following a decline in enrolments during the peak of COVID,” Megan O’Connell, The Early Learning Association of Australia’s (ELAA) director of advocacy and member solutions, said.
“We know the sessional kindergarten model provides high quality education and care for children, with a well-trained workforce supported by a leading industrial agreement. Parents in Victoria are also recognising this.”
O’Connell said Victoria has invested heavily in promoting access to both three and four-year-old kindergarten.
“We can see the government’s investment starting to reap benefits, with parents enrolling more children in early childhood education. As more children attend three-year-old kindergarten we would expect to see strong enrolments continue into four-year-old kindergarten.”
The data also found that enrolments in kindergarten programs in long day care fell in Victoria between 2021 and 2022, consistent with national trends.
O’Connell pointed out that a growing number of children are attending more than one type of early childhood education and care, with one in six enrolled Victorian children attending both sessional kindergartens and long day care centres.
“This data points to the need to examine changes to models of provision that might better suit families and children, such as enabling kindergartens to provide extended hours of subsidised early childhood education and care,” she said.
“We’ve heard from many of our kindergarten members that they would welcome the ability to provide extended sessions for families, but currently cannot access Commonwealth funding if they mainly deliver kindergarten.”
ELAA is advocating for the Child Care Subsidy to be extended to enable kindergartens to offer subsidised hours of early childhood education and care to meet the changing needs of families and expand access to early childhood education and care.
The original version of this article appeared as a media release from the Early Learning Association of Australia.