Review of early childhood education funding announced
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A group reviewing funding for the early childhood sector has been told to consider making trade-offs between the quality of early learning and its cost.
Associate education minister David Seymour on Tuesday announced the launch of a review of how the government funds early childhood education.
The review's terms of reference say an advisory group will provide advice on matters including how government funding could be structured to provide better participation, education outcomes, and labour market participation.
It would also advise on: "The balance between quality and affordability for services and parents/caregivers reflected in the funding system, including its contribution to an appropriate mix of minimum standards and quality inputs, such as adult-to-child ratios or proportions of qualified teachers."
The document said too high a cost restricted access to early childhood education.
"Higher cost is partly driven by quality factors, particularly better adult-to-child ratios and higher teacher pay," it said.
It also said the funding system was complex.
"For example, multiple funding mechanisms concurrently operate to incentivise higher levels of certificated teachers, designate levels of teacher pay, and reduce costs for particular groups of children. In a system with multiple funding streams, this creates complexity for both parents and services."
The document will fuel fears that regulations protecting the number of qualified teachers and their pay are under threat.
The review document said too high a cost restricted access to early childhood education.
Photo:
RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Currently, at least 50 percent of the teaching staff in licensed services must be qualified teachers and services receive higher rates of government subsidy if they have more teachers and if they agree to give their teachers pay parity with kindergarten and school teachers.
The government has watered down the pay parity requirements - last year removing any obligation to pay qualified relief teachers pay parity rates and this year allowing centres to pay newly-qualified teachers at the bottom step of the scale regardless of prior qualifications and experience.
The latter move prompted the
Teaching Council to warn the government
not to undermine a well-qualified early childhood sector.
In a statement, David Seymour said the funding review would ensure families had better access to affordable services.
He said the review was designed to ensure the $2.7 billion set aside by the government for early childhood education prioritised the right things and went as far as it could.
Seymour said the current funding system was too complicated and support might not reach families who needed it most.
"It confuses families, providers struggle to forecast financial sustainability, and parents take time off work when they can't access care," said Seymour.
He said there weren't plans to cut funding, and any changes would allow the industry to expand.
Seymour said it was important taxpayers got value for money.
"We want to be certain that taxpayer money is being used effectively," he said. "The ECE funding system should provide the best return on investment for taxpayers."
He said each family had different requirements when it came to early childhood services.
"We don't know if the 'one size fits all' funding approach in ECE works for parents who don't have traditional working arrangements or consistent patterns of child attendance."
"These parents are often the most disadvantaged," Seymour said.
The review group will be chaired by early childhood centre owner Linda Meade, and includes Early Childhood Council chief executive Simon Laube, Auckland Kindergarten Association chief financial officer Melissa Glew, early childhood centre owner Kelly Seaburg, Auckland University academic Dr Kane Meissel, social policy expert Dr Michael Fletcher, and Fletcher Building chief people officer Kylie Eagle.
The group is expected to report its findings this time next year.
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