GANNAWARRA Shire acting director of community wellbeing Paul Fernee says the recommendation for an early leaning centre at Cohuna Consolidated School has opened up funding opportunities from the State Government.
“Additionally, the co-location of kindergarten, long day care, maternal child health and primary school services aligns with the Victorian Government and Department of Education’s longstanding policy commitment of locating kindergartens in or adjacent to school sites,” he said in his report.
Cr Garner Smith said Cohuna had seen a “revitalisation” in recent years.
“I think there is a lot of opportunity in Cohuna by piggybacking off Echuca, which I think has lost of a bit of charm.
“I think there is a case to be made of living somewhere around Cohuna and Leitchville and, even if you work in Echuca, everyone is going to benefit from this.
“If professionals want to live in a great location like Cohuna, they need some of the support services and one of them will be childcare.
“It’s a case of see the need, fill the need, and this is a step towards that,” Cr Smith said.
Cr Keith Link has also been a strong supporter of the community campaign, telling the council the “development of our children to get them a good start in life is just critical”.
“Cohuna is in a disadvantaged region, we have expanding kinder programs from government reforms and this report clearly signifies significant demand for childcare and early-years service in Cohuna and surrounds.
“Expanding government reform shows the need for 30 hours per week for play-based learning and 15 hours for three-year-olds.”
Cr Link was left “flabbergasted” by a comment in the report that stated the “lack of quality childcare provided may be a contributing factor to the poorer results for this district”.
“Research shows that quality, formal early childcare education and care supports optimal development outcomes for young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. For Cohuna and district, the only access to this is through kindergarten services in Leitchville and Cohuna,” the report said.
Cr Link said the day childcare for Cohuna “can’t come quick enough”.
“If there is government money around we have the site, I just look forward to the day a semi rolls up with a prefabricated building, plonk it down and away we go,” he said.
WHAT THE REPORT FOUND
• There was no Kerang childcare centre and only a limited, small supply of family day care for the district.
• There were 155 preschool children and 236 children aged 5-11 who had little or no access to the childcare that families needed.
• Even with family day care, at least 80 children and their families were missing our every day on necessary childcare.
• Once 30 hours of pre-Prep is introduced, this may be partly alleviated, but only for the four-year-old cohort.
• Cohuna has a high employment rate and growing population of children aged 0-11 (17 per cent growth between 2016 and 2021).
• Fifteen hours weekly of kinder could only just be provided and 50 three and four-year-old children were in the aging, standalone one-room facility.
• When four-year-old kinder extended to 30 hours weekly pre-Prep after 2025, the facility would not meet the new requirements for the projected 53 children who needed it.
• Families emphasised they were suffering from unsustainable work, travel and childcare arrangements.
• Businesses, schools and service providers confirmed that the lack of childcare for local people was the major issue for the sustainability and prosperity of the town. They were regularly losing skills, employees and business as families moved to towns that could provide the childcare they need.
