Published on 23 August 2023
Gannawarra Shire Council continues to advocate for support to establish the Cohuna Early Childhood Education and Care Centre, which would improve early childhood education and child care availability for Cohuna and district residents.
A key finding from the Exploring Care and Education in Cohuna Final Report, the centre would ensure children in the area would be able to access three-year-old kindergarten sessions and the new Pre-Prep program, which will replace the current four-year-old kindergarten structure in 2025.
“Providing sufficient early childhood education services is vital for our larger communities, as it assist with growing our population and generating jobs locally,” Council Chief Executive Officer, Geoff Rollinson said.
Since the release of the Exploring Care and Education in Cohuna Final Report in February 2023, Council staff have been working with the Victorian Department of Education and the Victorian Schools Building Authority to update the municipality’s Kindergarten Infrastructure and Services Plan.
“The Gannawarra Kindergarten Infrastructure and Services Plan is an important document, as it outlines the current demand for funded kindergarten in the area, forecasts future demand for these services, and expectations for how this demand will be accommodated for,” Mr Rollinson.
“The Gannawarra Urban Growth Strategy, which was recently adopted by Council, identifies that the Gannawarra will experience population growth during the next two decades. A new early learning centre at Cohuna is critical to catering for this growth, which is something we continue to raise with the State Government.
“We are also regularly raising this matter during our meetings with relevant ministers, including with Minister for Regional Development, Harriet Shing, who met with Council earlier this week.
Council is also working to prepare for the increase in staff required to care for children attending the Cohuna Early Learning Centre.
“We are currently updating our Workforce Strategy, with requirements to address demand for Early Childhood Educators to be a key feature of this document,” Mr Rollinson said.
Tenielle Edge, who has coordinated a community-led campaign for improved child care availability for Cohuna, welcomed Council’s ongoing advocacy for the project.
“I couldn’t be happier with the work Gannawarra Shire Council has undertaken to continue to see this project through,” she said.
“It is a frustratingly slow process, however, everyone working on this project are doing all that they can and I feel that because of them, this project will come to life.
“I encourage our community to continue to support our project and to hang in there. We are so close.”