- Published:
- Saturday 16 May 2020
The Victorian Government is supporting kindergarten services during the coronavirus pandemic with new funding grants available to help with cleaning and hygiene costs in Term 2.
Minister for Education James Merlino today announced $2.6 million in grants would be made available for all early childhood services delivering a funded kindergarten program to boost their cleaning and hygiene during this pandemic.
The Victorian Government will provide $900 grants for kindergarten services with less than 50 enrolments and $1,500 for those with 50 or more enrolments.
These grants will help with the costs of high standards of cleaning and hygiene, consistent with the Australian Health Principal Practitioners Committee guidance.
Service providers will have flexibility in how to use this funding as long as it is spent on meeting cleaning and hygiene requirements for their kindergarten program.
This includes paying for additional hours of cleaning and buying hygiene products, such as hand sanitiser and soap.
Early childhood education and care services continuing to operate, in line with advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer and Australian Health Protection Principal Committee including – enhanced personal hygiene for children, staff and parents, cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surface at least daily and regularly washing toys and equipment
The grants are available as part of the up to $45 million in extra funding to support kindergartens during the coronavirus pandemic.
Further guidance on measures to maintain the health and safety of children and staff can be found on the DHHS website.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Education James Merlino
“Cleaning grants are another step in supporting kinders during this time – after guaranteeing 100 per cent of their funding and providing additional funding to make sessional kinder free.”
“Early childhood staff are doing an outstanding job with their children and families, and these grants help kinder services ensure high standards of cleaning and hygiene.”