Mass exodus of overworked kindergarten staff feared TELL US How can you improve your work-life balance? OVERWORKED kindergarten teachers and directors are considering leaving the industry in growing numbers, the state's education union says, amid calls for better support for early learning staff. Australian Education Union SA branch president Correna Haythorpe said Federal Government policy changes introduced in the past year, such as the National Quality Framework, have created a work-life balance nightmare for educators. "It's a huge issue that's created a long paper trail for staff and is taking staff away from their students," she said. We've had many say they are reconsidering their careers and that their increased workload has had a very negative impact on their wellbeing. The union today starts its Leave On Time, Leave it Behind campaign, urging those in charge of the state's kindergartens to work as few extra hours as possible. Kurralta Park Kindergarten director Kerry Strugnell said while some reforms, such as the Universal Access scheme, were advantageous for children, staff were struggling to cope with the extra demands. There is a lot more red tape, a lot more paperwork and it means we're working a lot of extra hours. It's definitely taking it's toll on staff," she said. We want more contact time with the children in our centres, not less and that's what's been happening. The Universal Access program recommends Australian children receive a minimum of 15 hours of preschool education a week. A Federal Education Department spokesman said there was no independent evidence to support claims educators were leaving the sector. "The framework has already defied a number of scare campaigns that predicted closures and a shrinking sector in recent years," he said. A spokeswoman for the SA Education Department said it appreciated the dedication of preschool and kindergarten staff and was monitoring and reviewing their workload in relation to industry reforms.