PRESIDENT of the Queensland Early Childhood Teachers Association Kim Walters says Gympie is seriously under resourced when it comes to assisting children with developmental delays.

More than 30per cent of Gympie students aged three to five years of age are vulnerable in one or more key education criteria, one of the state's highest rates.

The criteria include language and communication skills, health and well-being as

well as social and cognitive skills.

Mrs Walters said Gympie's biggest problem was access to support.

She said Gympie parents are often forced to seek help either at the Sunshine Coast or Brisbane.

"We need support,” Mrs Walters said. "Our biggest problem is funding.

"If you have a child with a developmental delay, you have to go on a waiting list for 18 months. That is ridiculous.”

Mrs Walters pointed to other lower socio economic areas like Logan that have state-of-the-art facilities to help vulnerable children.

These facilities include occupational therapists, speech pathologists and other vital medical resources to help children enter the education system on the right foot. She said Gympie would benefit from something similar.

"We need a state-of-the-art facility that helps support parents before kids go to school,” Mrs Walters

said. "It would make the biggest difference.”

- TOM DAUNT