Qualification a tough ask
Migrants and refugees who provide home-based childcare face an additional hurdle in the leap towards new qualification standards.
The Education Ministry has announced plans to introduce a requirement for home-based educators to have at least a level 4 early childhood qualification to provide more consistent levels of quality across the sector. About 70 per cent of such educators have no formal education qualification.
But Paua Early Childhood Care Service affiliated educator Nanda lal Chauhan, a Bhutanese refugee, said he simply won’t be able to meet the new requirement without extra help.
‘‘I don’t have enough English to study. I can only write my name, ‘‘ said daughter Divya Ghimivey, translating for him.
Chauhan came to New Zealand from Bhutan seven years ago. He became an early childhood educator to help teach his grandchildren their culture and language, before assisting with other children from his homeland.
Ghimivey said the Government’s plans were great for the majority of New Zealand children, but could upset the arrangements families like hers relied on to make ends meet and ensure their children don’t lose touch
I don’t have enough English to study. I can only write my name. Nanda lal Chauhan
with their heritage.
Failure to meet the new requirement would cost the family Paua’s support, which consisted of lesson and development plans, educational toys and materials for grandson Aarav, and translators to assist Chauhan with courses such as first aid.
Paua teacher Carron Crawford also helped the family navigate Kiwi culture and Government bureaucracy as they established their life here, Ghimivey said.
‘‘We find it easier to talk about these things with someone familiar. If Carron wasn’t here for us, who would we go to?’’
Crawford supports 14 educators from Palmerston North’s large migrant and refugee community. None has formal qualifications, but they provided an important and highquality service for children growing up multilingual.
‘‘It’s often their first New Zealand job... It gives them a sense of empowerment.
‘‘[They] help keep their culture and language alive and relevant to their children. That’s something the children won’t see in a [standard] kindy or childcare centre.’’
Crawford said Chauhan was an excellent educator but, like many migrant community educators she worked with, he would need more support and time to gain the qualification.
She said many were already enrolled in English language courses while working to support their families, and faced additional barriers of time, language and money. Consideration needed to be given to offering them assistance such as translators, while the Government was consulting on a timeframe for the transition.
‘‘We are a very multicultural society and it would be a shame to see them left out of the sector.’’