LABOR has welcomed the state government's decision to extend free preschool across NSW until the end of 2020, but has called on it to take up the fight to the federal government to make long day care free too.
Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Learning and Charlestown MP Jodie Harrison said Labor had been pushing the state government to help women back to work by providing free preschool until the end of the year.
Labor said the decision means that thousands of children, who faced being withdrawn from preschool, will continue to access quality learning.
"At a time when so many families are struggling due to this pandemic, this is a lifeline and the right decision," Ms Harrison said.
"Some young learners were facing the prospect of missing out on the final term of preschool before starting kinder. These children will now have the opportunity to stay in preschool. This will help families and children.
"Most importantly, this will help women, who've been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, return to work. What we need now is for the federal government to match this move by extending free early childhood learning to the long day care sector and the Berejiklian Government needs to insist they do this."
As the Newcastle Herald has previously reported, the state government in April pledged more than $130 million to save childcare sector jobs by providing parents with free care during the pandemic.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a $51 million funding package to cover the cost of preschool fees for up to six months and up to $82 million to support council childcare centres ineligible for JobKeeper payments.
The funding was available to 700 state-funded community preschools along with 38 mobile services, which care for some 45,000 children aged between three and five. This was on top of the Start Strong funding arrangement.
Labor leader Jodi McKay and Ms Harrison visited Cardiff Community Preschool in late June to call for the program extension, saying 155,000 women had lost their jobs compared to 114,000 men during the last quarter.
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