NEW government funding to reduce the cost of sending a four-year-old to pre-school has been hailed as 'long overdue' by industry workers.

Eight pre-schools across Port Stephens will receive $350,031 in a move designed to reduce fees and improve access to early education thgroughout NSW.

It is part of a five-year plan by both the NSW and Federal governments to funnel more than $278 million into community pre-schools statewide.

It means savings of $5 per day for parents of four-year-old students at Medowie Community preschool, according to Michelle Ireland.

"It will be different for each school, as we are all getting different amounts but for us it could mean the difference between sending a child to preschool for one day and sending them two or three days," she said.

While the news of additional funding was warmly received by the Port's preschool directors, many of them said more needed to be done to improve access to community schools across the state.

"It is well and truly overdue," said Karingal director Adelaide Romboutts.

"There has been funding freeze for the last 20 years and we have had to deal with increasing costs such as staff wages and additional occupational health and safety commitments over those years."

She said it was important governments understood the importance of community pre-schools in early education.

"It needs to be available not just to those that can afford it but to everybody because it plays a vital role in their education," she said.