One stop child care contentious

by Jessica Naidos

April 18, 2008

VIEWS on Kevin Rudd’s recent idea to bring all child care services under one umbrella have raised the eyes of Spearwood locals.

On April 16, Mr Rudd outlined a plan to establish universal child care centres across Australia, to include health and welfare checks, long day care and preschool education facilities all in one.

The service would be targeted at ankle-biters below five years of age, and is being promoted as a solution to parents looking for greater quality child care.

Lauren McDonell, who lives in Spearwood and has a two-year-old, supported the idea.

“It sounds excellent to me,” Ms McDonell said. “I would definitely be interested in the concept of a centre with the combined services all in one.

Ms McDonell said current child care services were not providing value for money.

“I’m paying the price for my daughter to be looked after, but at the same time I want her to be learning new things on a daily basis,” she explained. “I just don’t feel as if she is getting the full potential benefits that [Mr Rudd’s} centres could initiate in terms of teaching.”

Director of the Little Woodpeckers centre, in Spearwood, disagreed.

“I feel extremely negative about the situation,” Ara Kelly-Anderson said. “We are a very small business here, caring for a total of 37 children throughout the week and I just don’t see us getting any benefits from it if applied.

“To me, the idea is so clinical. I think it misses the whole concept of child care, and will adapt a more aggressive learning approach that should really be initiated at home with interaction from their parents.”The proposal will be further discussed at Mr Rudd’s upcoming 2020 Summit.