Families in Cobar, western New South Wales, are urgently seeking qualified educators to save the town’s only long day-care service, which has abruptly closed leaving 40 families out on a limb.
The Kubby House Child Care Centre closed this week after a number of childhood educators and an executive staff member left the business.
The reduced staff numbers meant children could not be suitably supervised.
Mother-of-two Marybeth Lowe said the forced closure had shocked the remote mining town in western New South Wales.
"I, like many others, have had to take annual leave to to cover my absence from work because I don't have care," Ms Lowe said.
The centre will be closed while its volunteer management committee, including Ms Lowe, work urgently to find qualified staff.
"Our focus is on the community," she said.
"We're trying to reopen as early as possible."
In recent weeks, as staff numbers dwindled, parents were encouraged to keep their children it at home.
"It's been a busy few weeks trying to meet ratios — without enough staff we just can't run," Ms Lowe said.
Cobar needs carers urgently
To reopen, the centre needs to hire five permanent staff.
Kubby's management committee president Bonnie Fullagar said local mining companies had offered their assistance to help find workers with a certificate III or diploma in early childhood education.
"We have engaged a recruitment agency and we have spoken to a local mining site's human resources department and they've helped us out," Ms Fullagar said.
She said enticing childhood educators to move to the small town could be difficult.
Cobar is 300 kilometres west of Dubbo, and businesses often struggle to compete with the mining sector when hiring staff.
"It's a hard time of year to find staff willing to relocate because it's so close to Christmas," she said.
"We are in a crisis. We just don't know what the future holds."
Ms Fullagar had also taken leave from her job to care for her children, as had some of her colleagues.
