Did you know that Victoria will be the first region in Australia to introduce Government-funded three-year-old kindergarten for children?
Over the next ten years, the Victorian Government is investing nearly $5 billion to give more children access to early childhood education. While four-year-old kindergarten has already been government-funded for children in Victoria, three-year-old kindergarten will also be funded. This means two years of quality play-based learning are available for children to enhance their development and support them in getting the best start in life.
Benefits of the funded 3-year old kindergarten program
The funding of 3-year old kinder will have a positive impact on children, with improved access to more opportunities for early learning and school readiness during this critical time of development.
There has been much research to support the provision of two years of funded early childhood education instead of just one. Play-based programs can play a valuable role in a child’s early learning and ongoing development.
We always say, quality early childhood educational experiences can lay the foundation for a lifelong love of learning!
How it works
The funded three-year-old program has already started to roll out in many council areas. You can see the list here. As of 2022, all three-year-olds across the state will have access to five hours of funded kinder each week – this will increase to a full 15-hour per week kindergarten program by 2029.
The subsidies will work the same way that the current four-year-old kindergarten program works. The government will cover part of the cost, while parents will simply need to pay the fees set by each individual kindergarten. For childcare services, the government pays the funding directly to the service provider to help with the higher wage of a qualified kindergarten teacher. It also assists with expenses related to the higher quality programs as well as resources, staff development, training, excursion, and so on. Of course, this depends on how many hours a child attends and extra costs for incursions or excursions.
For enrolment details for Bonkers Beat Music Kinder, simply email us!
