Mark Speakman
NSW Leader of the Opposition
Sarah Mitchell
Shadow Minister for Education and Early Learning
The NSW Opposition is calling on the Minns Labor Government to provide more support for community preschools, as they shut their doors to take part in a series of rallies across the state today.
Community preschools across NSW, along with the Independent Education Union, have been pushing for increased state government funding to boost wages for early childhood teachers in community preschools who are currently paid 30 per cent less than teachers in other sectors.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said it's important they are given the funding they need to remain competitive in order to attract and retain their staff.
"The NSW Government plays a key role as the main funding body for community preschools and they need to take that responsibility seriously," Mr Speakman said.
"The fact hundreds of teachers and educators are preparing to walk off the job today should send a strong message to the Premier that they don't feel like they are being heard, and he needs to step up and start to listen to their needs."
The Sydney rally is due to commence at 11:30am outside the NSW Parliament, while another event will be held at Spinks Park in Lismore.
Shadow Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said community preschool teachers are simply asking to receive the same support as their colleagues given they have the same qualifications and responsibilities.
"When you have an entry level primary school teacher on a higher wage than a director of a community preschool, it shows the gap in the system has clearly widened in the past couple of years," Mrs Mitchell said.
"This discrepancy is having a massive impact on the ability for community preschools to keep their highly qualified staff when they can't offer anywhere near as much pay as their competitors.
"Given there are more than 700 community preschools in NSW that provide an incredible service for our children, this is definitely something the Government needs to look at and fix as soon as possible."
