But others are worried that reducing the number of babies looked after by one carer from five to three may force some centres to close.

The Federal Government’s plan to overhaul early childhood education means centres would be given a provisional license for up to two years and the number of babies looked after by any one carer reduced from five to three.

Assistant director of Little Learner’s childcare centre, Sherryl Drady, said having a scheme to prove child care centres were committed to offering a high quality of childhood development was a “good idea”.

“It’s making sure the centres are doing what they say they are doing and it’s a reassurance to parents that a high quality service is being offered,” Mrs Drady said. The current system allows child-care centres to operate for two years without being formally credited.

The Government is likely to pull the pin on a scheme that would rank childcare centres from A to E, after the plan met opposition from parents and industry groups.

“I feel the old system is working but as generations change I think we need to make sure it is working,” Mrs Drady said.

“I think the majority of centres in Dubbo are offering fantastic services so I think they would automatically be graded with a high standard anyway,” she said.

But Little Learner’s owner Kim Jones said the idea to reduce carer baby numbers to one carer for three babies could place financial stress on some centres and many may not survive.

“We run on a one carer to four babies ratio and it’s lovely and it means higher interaction between staff and babies,” Mrs Jones said.

“One to three is cutting it fine because it’s expensive to employ staff, so centres could stop allowing babies coming to the centre,” she said.

Stepping Stones child care centre director Jena Glover said the proposed Federal Government plans had credit.

“The ratio of one to three should be all the time anyway for all centres, being a mum myself it’s hard to look after one baby let alone three,” Mrs Glover said.

belinda.galloway@ruralpress.com