8 / 48
Change can be a good thing. And change
we have.
The new Labour-New Zealand First
Government, with confidence and supply
arrangements from the Greens, has
signalled some new directions will be put in
place in the education sector, including early
childhood education (ECE).
Here at the Early Childhood Council (ECC)
we have been long-time advocators for
change and improvements in some key areas
of our sector, and we work hard to seek
change or at the very least, some tweaks.
This includes work to improve and change
the current funding levels and the complex
system underneath it, and seeking a level-
playing field across the ECE sector, such as
the uneven application of regulations for
different ECE services.
We know at a snapshot level from the pre
election policy statements that Labour was
keen to return to the sector strategic plan,
increase the universal subsidies, return to
the 100 percent incentive, and improve
learning support funding. New Zealand First
has an interest in supporting Playcentres
and Kōhanga Reo, and to review ECE teacher
programmes.
New Zealand has a world-class ECE
curriculum,
Te Whāriki
. However there are
certainly areas of the sector that could be
improved.
Addressing the loss of funding from the per-
child subsidy level across both the Universal
Subsidy and the 20 Hours ECE Subsidy
is needed to compensate for inflationary
adjustments, albeit within the current fiscal
envelope. Upward adjustments to the per
child rate will enable ECE services to be
better placed to explore increasing their
teacher numbers toward the 100%
qualified goal.
Of course, achieving the 100% goal will also
require a pool of suitably qualified teachers
available to employ, which could be tricky
given the current teacher shortages we are
facing.
If New Zealand First achieves a review of
ECE teacher programmes, employers need
to be able to have a say here, and for all
parties, including the Education Council, to
get around the table on this issue.
We also need a far less complex funding
system. It’s currently so complex it cannot
be understood by parents, providers and
even the government. Reinvigorating the
funding review for ECE, that was started but
never completed, could be just the ticket of
change that is needed here.
A less complex funding system could, for
example, enable children from low-income
families or those living in hardship to be
more easily prioritised to ensure those most
in need can be funded to access ECE.
We are likely to see a renewed and welcome
focus on ensuring those most in need can
get access to the education and learning
support they need.
ECE services must be a good fit for the
communities they serve. ECE services could
for example combine education and care
with services for family health, parenting
education, housing, parent support, and
return to work programmes for welfare
beneficiaries, which might support wider
government policy in these areas.
Improving access to quality ECE for children
with learning support (special) needs is also
on the cards. Increasing the per-child hour
subsidy for children with additional learning
needs could be one way to cover the costs
of education and care. And teachers could
do with more support and training to enable
them to better recognise children with
additional support needs earlier.
It has been referenced that a commitment
will be made under this new government to
develop a 30-year strategy for education.
It makes sense to look at education as a
whole, and for a fresh look at this strategy
for education to include ECE at the table. A
sector-wide view is important here.
We also expect there could be changes
made to Communities of Learning. They are
a great idea, but the current arrangement
has meant ECE is not always sitting at the
Community of Learning tables, and we need
to be there to ensure a child’s education is
viewed as a whole.
Also expect to see lots of noise directed
at the new government in a bid to address
teacher pay inequalities that have crept
in across the whole education sector. This
effort is likely to pick up pace in the first
quarter of next year. It would be good to
see as an outcome, catch-up payments to
education and care centres sufficient to
restore, in part at least, pay parity between
Kindergarten and other teachers who are
doing the same jobs in ECE.
Finally, we’d also love to see all ECE service
providers, whether they be home-based,
parent-led, Kindergarten or an early
childhood education centre, subject to
the same reasonable levels of government
rules and regulation. This would ensure
ECE providers across the board offer the
same levels of safety and quality because
they operate under the same rules and
regulations.
The Early Childhood Council looks forward
to continuing these discussions on behalf
of our members, and working with the
new government, the incoming Education
Minister, Chris Hipkins, and Associate
Ministers, Tracey Martin, on the important
portfolio of early childhood education.
Change can take time. At the end of the
day, how we value our early childhood
services, and the centre owners, managers,
and teachers, directly feeds into the quality
learning outcomes for our country’s pre-
school-aged children. To be continued….
Peter Reynolds
CHANGE IS ON ITS WAY ACROSS
THE EDUCATION SECTOR
CEO's
MESSAGE
December 2017
{
8
}