Photo: Delimiter

Minister for Early Childhood Education Jenny Mikakos was in Morwell today to announce the 580 Victorian kinders that will share in $58.1 million to engage with experts and access evidence-based programs to help kids stay on par with their peers.

Census data shows that one in five Victorian children start school developmentally vulnerable and once behind, they tend to stay behind.

School readiness funding will allow Victorian kinders to tap into the expertise of speech and occupational therapists, language and literacy professionals and child psychologists, who can then boost the capability of both parents and teachers.

It’s the first time in Australia such funding has been made available to kindergartens and will become a permanent part of Victoria’s early childhood education funding.

Morwell’s Carinya Early Learning Centre will get almost $55,000 to help its kids make the most out of kinder.

School readiness funding will be rolled out to all kinders statewide by 2021, with the 580 kinders part of the first tranche of 25 local government areas, which includes suburbs in Melbourne’s west and south, and regional areas such as Horsham, Mildura, Swan Hill, and Gippsland. All kindergartens operated by an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations in Victoria will also receive the funding next year.

This needs-based funding aims to reduce the impact of educational disadvantage on children’s learning and development and improve outcomes in communication (language development), wellbeing (social and emotional regulation) and access and participation.

It is part of the Government’s landmark $202.1 million Education State Early Childhood Reform Plan, which recognises the importance of providing families with strong support in early childhood, so kids are ready for kinder, ready for school and ready for life. The Victorian Budget 2018/19 invested a further $135.9 million toward realising our early childhood vision.