Class dismissed

PRESCHOOL children have had to be sent home because nobody could teach them.

Chronic staff shortages are among a host of problems that parents and teachers say is creating a crisis in our classrooms.

Pakenham Kindergarten had to cancel an afternoon session recently when a teachers son fell ill and relief could not be found in time.

Residents from around Cardinia Shire are today joining a protest march pushing for changes to attract more teachers and make other improvements to the early education system.

Lobby group Parents for Preschool Education (PPE) is leading the push that will see protesters gather on the steps of State Parliament in Melbourne.

PPE spokeswoman Cherylle Hampton of Upper Beaconsfield said thousands of people had signed petitions. They want the State Government to move responsibility for preschools from the Department of Human Services to the Department of Education and Training.

Childrens education must be managed by the one government department from the very beginning, Mrs Hampton said.

Our children need a sustainable, quality preschool system that is accessible for all.

Joining the march will be Pakenham Kindergarten president Karen Murphy and other parents and children who attend the Main Street facility.

Mrs Murphy said making the decision to cancel the session was one of the hardest things she had ever done.

I felt sick, I was nearly in tears, she said.

The kids all get excited about going to kinder but the teachers son had gastro so there was no way she could come in.

I dreaded phoning all the mums and dads up, but we tried and tried to find a replacement teacher, and nobody was available.

Mrs Hampton said the teacher shortage was due to the primary sector offering better pay and working conditions than kindergartens, despite similar training.

Longserving teacher at Pakenham Heights Kindergarten Heather Monro said staff often worked when ill because taking a day off meant cancelling sessions.

Its ridiculous, there are so few teachers, she said.

Weve had to cancel sessions and close the kinder before. Its such a horrible thing to deal with. Most times teachers who are sick will drag themselves into work even if they feel lousy.

Mrs Hampton said preschools needed to be recognised as a vital first step in childrens education.

Without real reform, our current preschool system is not sustainable, she said.

But State Government spokeswoman Sofia Dedes said shifting responsibility to the Department of Education and Training was not the best way to go.

Ms Dedes said kindergartens needed to be linked in with the whole range of services used by young children and families services such as childcare and playgroups.

Thats why the State Government is keeping kindergartens under the same department that deals with all early years services, she said.

Ms Dedes said the Department of Human Services was delivering higher quality kindergarten services and pointed to record participation rates achieved in recent years.

She said the new cluster management system launched locally by Minister for Community Services, Children Sherryl Garbutt was a great model for providing better career and professional development for kindergarten teachers, as well as helping reduce the problems of getting relief staff.

When a staff member is unexpectedly absent from work, regardless of what the job is, it can be difficult to find a replacement at short notice, Ms Dedes said.

This has nothing to do with which department kindergartens are administered by.