Plans up in the air … Antonia Selsby may be forced to send her twins to preschool less often. Photo: Simon Alekna

THOUSANDS of parents have been caught out by NSW government plans to charge compulsory fees at public preschools next year.

The speed with which the compulsory fees will be introduced has left parents and principals scrambling. Many parents have already enrolled their children in the public system for next year and relinquished spots at other preschools.

In some cases fees will quadruple, forcing parents to pay tens of thousands of dollars more than expected.

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A spokesman for the Department of Education, Mark Davis, said more than 4000 families could be affected by the introduction of the fees of up to $40 a day per child.

The new policy – announced in the state budget last month – aimed to bring fees at public preschools into line with ”the wider early childhood sector in NSW”, he said.

Parents have been asked in the past for voluntary contributions to their child’s public preschool.

Sydney mother Antonia Selsby, whose twin daughters are enrolled in Leichhardt’s Orange Grove preschool next year, said the policy announcement was a ”rude shock”.

“In our circumstances, with twins, it will now cost us $400 a week … which is four times what we were expecting,” she said. “That’s $16,000, roughly, for the year.”

She said the policy could force her to cut back on the number of hours her children attended preschool.

It would be ”almost impossible” to find an alternative this late in the year.

A mother of triplets, Kim Bold, planned to send her children to preschool, but said she could not afford to do so under the increases.

”I work part-time and I was looking to send them to preschool and to perhaps increase my work from two days to three days a week, but I won’t be able to do that now,” she said.

The opposition spokeswoman on education, Carmel Tebbutt, said she was “very concerned” about the plan.

”Many of these preschools serve disadvantaged communities where families may no longer be able to attend,” she said.

The president of the NSW Primary Principals Association, Jim Cooper, was also worried about those from a low socio-economic background, particularly indigenous children.

”I’m sure the government is going to say that no child will be disadvantaged, and … they won’t stop the child entering [preschool], but I’m not sure how they’re going to police that,” he said.

Mr Davis said fees would depend on the socio-economic status of the community and individual parents.

”Aboriginal children and low-income families would be eligible for fee relief of 50 per cent to 100 per cent,” he said.