Fee hike could be passed on to parents

Parents could end up paying more for early-childhood education if a proposal to increase teacher registration fees goes ahead.

The Education Council is proposing to raise the cost of registration for teachers from $73 to $140.

The increase was not unexpected, Early Childhood Council (ECC) chief executive Peter Reynolds said, but size of it had not been justified.

It was likely to hit the earlychildhood education slice of the sector harder than primary or secondary, because teachers were paid less and some centres paid for their teachers to register.

With most early-childhood education providers already under financial stress, there could be a shortfall in funds.

The ECC had surveyed its members, and found 96 per cent of them opposed the fee increase. Some centres represented by ECC paid for teachers’ registration themselves.

‘‘Centres and communityowned providers will be struggling to accommodate additional fees without having to hold their hand out to parents to make up at least some of the shortfall,’’ Reynolds said.

Early Childhood New Zealand chief executive Kathy Woolfe agreed if fees did go up as proposed, it could have a financial impact on providers, and that could be passed on to parents, in a ‘‘domino effect’’.

That could affect the more vulnerable families, and hit participation rates in early-childhood education.

Early-childhood teachers earned less than their secondary and primary school counterparts, and it was also possible some teachers would choose not to renew their registration, which could affect the quality of teaching.

Only 50 per cent of staff at earlychildhood providers need to be qualified.

Woolfe felt the Education Council was ‘‘quite meaningful’’ in its consultation process, and would take submissions seriously.

Child Forum chief executive Sarah Alexander said teachers said they were lucky if their employer paid their registration fee, and she did not see a reason why services would increase fees to parents, if the council increased fees for teachers.

Teachers might choose not to renew their registration because of the price, leading to a shortage of qualified and registered teachers.

Because consultation on the fee change was live, the Education Council was unable to comment, a spokesman said.