Press Releases dated 1st November 2000

The Sydney Institute at Ultimo is planning to close the on-campus Ultimo TAFE Children's Centre. This will effect 95 children and the 85 families who use this service.

In a deal brokered by UTS management, Sydney Institute plans to relocate the centre to another one on Mary Ann street, which is currently closed and needs to be refurbished. (TAFE is expected to contribute $100K towards the refurbishment).

The reason given by Sydney Institute management for these changes is that Ultimo TAFE needs more "green space" for teachers and students. Therefore, which is currently the children's playground will be converted to "green space". It is believed that the eventual phasing out of childcare services within the TAFE system is the real reason behind the proposal.

SI management have proposed that 15 places at the Mary Ann Street centre will be available to TAFE students and staff, as well as an additional 10 places in Fairfax centre and "up to" 30 places at Star City Casino childcare centre.

Places in these centres are not guaranteed, are no convenient to TAFE campus and will put a considerable strain on parents attending TAFE. Many students study from 9am - 6pm. If a child is not collected from childcare before 6pm, extra charges apply (in some centres at a rate of a $1.00 per minute!). Because the centre at Ultimo is on-campus, students can at present leave classes 5 minutes early to collect their child/children, but if this proposal goes ahead students may have to leave classes up to 45 minutes early. This is not acceptable to students or teachers and would have a detrimental effect on parents studies.

There are many other reasons why it is so important for parents to have access to the Ultimo TAFE Childcare Centre, as opposed to other centres.

At the Ultimo Childcare Centre, children are in care according to parent's timetables, and fees are charged accordingly. The TAFE calendar has many holidays throughout the year, at which times parents do not need to utilise the centre and do not need to pay for these periods. Parents are also guaranteed a place in the centre after extended holidays. This is not the case in other community based childcare centres.

Currently TAFE families enjoy subsidised childcare fees that enable them to study. For many parents study would be impossible if they were required to pay "normal" fees at other centres. The parents that study at TAFE have often had to overcome many hurdles to be able to study. There are numerous sole parents who are trying to better themselves through study, in many cases going on from TAFE to attend university. This will be impossible for most parents if the proposed changes take place.

Last but not least, parents feel that the services offered at Ultimo Childcare Centre are unique and of a very high standard. The centre, being a part of KU Children's Services is stated to be in the top 2% of all Sydney Centres. Being a Teaching Institute, the centre accommodates many Childcare and Teaching students, and is considered to be a model for other centres. The centre is very flexible, as it needs to accommodate constant timetable changes, and the staff are dedicated and caring. If a child is sick, parents can pick them up quickly, and breastfeeding mothers have easy access to their babies. For these reasons and more, parents do not want any changes to the centre.

It is obvious that the reasons given by SI management are false and that the real reason is cost cutting. While parents understand that SI has suffered from funding cuts, they do not feel that parents and children should suffer because of them. Parents are currently trying to negotiate with SI management through a series of meetings, though it has become clear that in order to stop this proposal further action must be taken.

A rally will be held on-campus on Wednesday, Nov 1. Parents have been delighted with the support received from teachers and other students and hope that the local community will get behind this issue and show their support for parents that chose to take on the difficult task of study.