The Victorian Government has announced it will allocate a further $40 million in capital grants to be shared between 92 services throughout the state.

 

State Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development, Wendy Lovell, said the funding can be used to upgrade facilities or develop integrated children’s services hubs.

 

“Our delivery of this funding will have a huge impact on children, not just now, but for many years to come,” Ms Lovell said.

 

“We’re committed to educating Victoria’s youngest children and setting them up for a life of learning.

 

“The funding comes at a crucial time, as kindergartens across the state prepare to move to programs of 15 hours per week in the year before school as part of the Universal Access agreement,” Ms Lovell said.

 

But Federal Minister for School Education, Peter Garrett, was quick to take umbrage over the claims by the Victorian Government, saying that the majority of the funding is actually coming from Federal coffers.

 

“Victorian Early Childhood Minister Wendy Lovell has been trumpeting the grants in regional media up and down the state, without once acknowledging that the vast majority of it is funded through the Commonwealth’s Early Childhood Education National Partnership,” Mr Garrett said in a statement.