Tuesday, 3 March 2020

Neerim district early childhood services

Mr BLACKWOOD (Narracan) (19:09): (1954) I raise a matter for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is that he support a request for the Neerim District Rural Primary School, now that it has been destaffed, to be used for playgroup sessions and as an early learning centre in the future. Neerim District Rural Primary School was destaffed at the end of last year due to falling numbers and the desire for parents of remaining students to send their children to Neerim South Primary School. There are a group of parents in the Nayook community that are very keen to keep the primary school in use as a playgroup venue for this year, and with the rollout of three-year-old kinder funding the school could easily be used for this purpose.

The early learning centre in Neerim South is at capacity, and there are a number of families within 10 minutes of the Neerim District Rural Primary School at Nayook that will need access to an early learning centre next year and beyond. Of course it is always the hope that numbers will increase and the Neerim District Rural Primary School will be restaffed and open its doors as a primary school once again sometime in the future. There has been no indication at this stage that the department intends to close and sell the school, but naturally there is genuine concern in the community that this could happen, especially given the financial pressures that the Andrews government is facing.

The Neerim district is currently increasing in population, as is most of West Gippsland. There will be increasing demand for early learning centre space for children from the Noojee, Neerim North, Neerim Junction, Piedmont and Nayook areas. I had a brief discussion with the minister in the house today on this issue, and he is going to provide me with a contact in his office for Kasey Booth and her group to work with. I appreciate the time the minister gave me. So when the time comes for the minister to decide on the merits of the proposal, I urge him to support this proactive group of young parents keen to facilitate the best start possible for their children’s education while at the same time ensuring this long-serving community asset continues to remain in community use.