The Victorian government is investing in additional early learning facilities in school sites across the state to make kinder education more accessible to children and their families.
Six new kindergartens will be built across Victoria, creating almost 400 extra licensed kindergarten places for local children, Ministry for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt has announced.
These early learning facilities, located in Lalor Primary School, Reservoir East Primary School, Rosewood Downs Primary School, Drouin West Primary School, Movelle Primary School, and Wollert West Primary School, will offer 66 spots each when they open in 2023.
Each site will have two kindergarten rooms, administrative facilities, and outdoor play spaces to encourage children to get active and enjoy nature.
“Kindergartens on school sites are about delivering better facilities and education to children in early education by making the transition to school that much easier,” said Minister for Education James Merlino.
The project is part of Victoria’s Three-Year-Old Kindergarten roll-out, which allows the government to upgrade infrastructure through a $1.68 billion co-investment with the early childhood sector by building and expanding kindergarten facilities across the state.
In a statement, the Victorian government added that every new primary school that will open in the state starting 2021 will have a kindergarten on-site or adjoining, making early learning programs easier to access and drop-off more convenient for parents and caregivers. This can also ensure a smoother transition for children to primary school education.
“We’re already giving Victorian kids an extra year of kinder – and now we’re taking action to make sure kinders are more convenient and accessible for busy families,” said Stitt.