Bejon Haswell/Stuff

South Canterbury Kindergartens general manager Dave Hawkey says attendance at kindergartens is down due to Covid.

Covid is impacting on kindergarten attendance across South Canterbury, and there are concerns high fuel prices are likely to be another barrier to children’s pre-school education.

South Canterbury Kindergartens general manager Dave Hawkey said attendance was down across the 13 kindergartens the organisation manages in Timaru, Temuka, Clandeboye, Fairlie, Tekapo and Twizel due to Covid.

“Parents are not sending their children to kindergarten if they have even the slightest flu symptoms and there are a few who are preferring to keep them at home as we head toward the peak of this outbreak.”

Hawkey said it was not a concern in the short term.

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Waimate Kindergarten Association general manager Terina ​ Eade said some families were dealing with a roll over of Covid. As one family member recovered another came down with the virus and the entire household had to isolate for another seven days.

She said though they were prepared for online learning with two lockdowns and one-on-ones with teachers, and parents by phone for those who did not have computers, it was still hard. Waimate Kindergarten was also offering hard copy Covid packs to families isolating, so children could continue learning.

“It is difficult for them staying home and isolating. If a parent has Covid, then the children may not be receiving Educa (online learning programme). It will affect some more than others depending on their environment.”

Eade said Waimate had the last mobile kindergarten in the country which covered rural areas including Hakataramea, Waituna, Waihao Downs, Hook, Glenavy and Esk Valley.

Though no teachers were down with Covid, Eade said it was slowly coming into the community in the past week, and she expected they may be affected in the coming weeks.

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Children do not have to wear masks at kindergarten. (File photo)

Under Ministry of Education guidelines, there are no bubbles for kindergarten children and teachers don’t wear masks. Parents who are not vaccinated must wear a mask and are allowed to stay for a maximum of 15 minutes to settle their child and pick them up. Anyone wishing to stay longer must show a vaccine pass.

“We can’t exclude children from an education. Most parents just drop off and pick up their children at the gate.”

Though the association offered a free service, many parents were worried about the recent fuel price hikes as some families had to travel 30 or 40kms in rural areas to get to the mobile kindergarten, Eade said.

JOHN BISSET/Stuff

Petrol prices were sitting above the $3 per litre mark at Z Caroline Bay on Saturday.

Wholesale petrol prices have been affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent volatility of the Brench benchmark, used to price the majority of the global oil trade. It has seen a litre of fuel hit the $3 mark in New Zealand in the past week.

On Monday, of the four service stations in Waimate the highest price per litre was $3.19 and lowest $2.81. While in Timaru the highest was $3.09 and the lowest was $3.03.

Ministry of Education Hautū (leader) Operations and Integration/Te Pae Aronui Sean Teddy said along with schools/kura, early learning services have layers of preventative measures in place to protect staff and children.

“We know that the more layers of protection in place included good hygiene practices, handwashing, ventilation, cleaning and disinfecting high touch areas regularly. The harder it is for the virus to be transmitted,” Teddy said.

He said where there were Covid cases in the community kindergartens were following guidance from Health and the Ministry of Education, and supporting those cases to stay at home.

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Originally Appeared Here