According to the data, Mitchell Shire and the City of Greater Shepparton were both ranked in the bottom four local government areas across the state when it came to parent satisfaction with their child’s kindergarten program, with both areas seeing a significant decrease in the 2022 Kindergarten Parent Opinion Survey.
While the 2024 Kindergarten Parent Opinion is taking place from October 14 to November 8, Ms Cleeland said the level of satisfaction had worsened recently.
Ms Cleeland, whose electorate covers parts of both LGAs, criticised the Victorian Government’s lack of planning before announcing the program.
“Free kinder is a great idea in theory, but unfortunately the Labor government’s reckless rollout of the program is having a negative impact on our regional kindergartens,” she said.
“Staff shortages across the sector have been amplified, and classes are now being combined to compensate for the lack of available teachers.
“This rushed rollout failed to consider the challenges regional providers face, and families across our local communities are saying they are unhappy with the education their young children are receiving.”
Ms Cleeland said that to receive funding for the Free Kinder program, some providers within the electorate were forced into running mixed aged programs that have seen three- and four-year-old kindergarten classes jammed together.
“Concerned parents have already reached out to me to say they are worried about how this will impact their child’s education and wellbeing,” Ms Cleeland said.
“These parents were not consulted, and the decision has been made suddenly and without time for the staff, parents or children to prepare.”
A Department of Education spokesperson said the rollout of Free Kinder was successful, with 97 per cent of services participating and more than 140,000 children and their families accessing programs — removing cost as a barrier to early education.
“Mixed-age kinder programs see older and younger children learning, playing and developing together while building confidence, identity and leadership skills, as well as developing practical skills for their future,” the spokesperson said.
Ms Cleeland said improving the availability, accessibility and staffing issues of regional kindergartens all needed to be considered as a matter of priority to avoid further concerns from parents and staff.
“While we want to make kinder accessible for all, this is not the way to do it,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Unfortunately, with our regional kindergartens already struggling with staff shortages, a lack of facilities, and high demand, the kinder reforms have done nothing but add pressure to our local providers.
“The poorly executed kinder reforms are another example of Labor’s city-centric policy that has ignored the impact it will have on regional Victoria.”
The Department of Education said Ms Cleeland’s concerns around the staffing of kindergartens were unfounded.
“Our investment in programs to grow the kindergarten workforce since 2019 includes awarding more than 4000 early childhood teaching scholarships, and we’re continuing to work with universities and training providers to support graduates to take up roles in rural and regional Victoria,” the spokesperson said.
