Three year olds in Tweed will be the first in Australia to benefit from Government subsidised preschool education as part of the NSW Government’s $197 million investment in the NSW 2018-19 Budget, Member for Tweed Geoff Provest said.

The new funding, part of the NSW Government’s Start Strong program, will mean more children in Tweed will be able to attend preschool and it will also improve affordability for families through a reduction of fees.

Mr Provest said this is fantastic news for Tweed.

“Early childhood education has a significant impact on a child’s future, and will ensure children in our great region have a head start in literacy development, better results in PISA and NAPLAN, increased likelihood of university attendance and better health outcomes,” he said.

“Tweed’s future doctors, teachers and agronomists are being shaped in our early childhood services as we speak, so this announcement means more children are getting the best possible start to their educational journeys as possible.”

Minister for Early Childhood Education Sarah Mitchell said this is just another way the NSW Government is improving the cost-of-living for families across the state.

“Because of this funding, average daily fees for three year olds in community preschools are expected to drop from an average of $51 to $36, saving families up to $1,557 by 2023,” she said.

“As a mother to young children myself, I know how important these savings are and I am excited to welcome the first cohort of subsidised three year olds in February 2019.

The NSW Government’s Start Strong program was introduced in 2016 and has already seen significant success for children attending preschool for 600 hours in the year before school – a reduction in average daily fees by 25 per cent and an increase in enrolments by 40 per cent.

For more information, visit https://education.nsw.gov.au/early-childhood-education