Two new childcare centres will commence operations next week, delivering an extra 208 childcare places for Canberra families, ACT Minister for Education and Training Joy Burch said today.
The new childcare centres opening at the Franklin Early Childhood School (120 places) and at Barton (88 places) will give Canberra families more childcare options for their children,” Ms Burch said.
In addition, investment in existing ACT Government facilities has added 33 additional places in Braddon and Charnwood. Two new family day care services have also been approved for the ACT.
Ms Burch said the ACT Labor Government’s significant investment in childcare and strategic planning has seen the number of childcare places double since 2001, with more than 8200 childcare places now offered to families across Canberra.
The Government is building on this provision through the recent Election commitment to provide $4.5 million to deliver more affordable, quality childcare across Canberra, providing up to 100 new childcare places.
The Government has also providing scholarships to the value of $1.04 million for early childhood educators to ensure the best quality teaching and care for our young children.
Ms Burch suggested that parents seeking to enrol their child in an education and care service start to plan as early as possible. Each service will have its own procedures for taking enrolments and allocating places.
Families are also reminded that they may be eligible for the Federal Government’s Child Care Benefit offsetting some costs of total fees at the time of payment. In addition, the Child Care Rebate pays up to 50 per cent of out of pocket expenses per child, up to an annual cap of $7,500 and is not income tested.
Courtesy of Joy Burch MLA.