Concerns over early childhood changes

The Government’s deregulation of early childhood centres could put some at risk of closure and undervalue both teachers and children, according to some sector leaders.

Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced a “down payment on deregulation” yesterday in an effort to make setting up new centres easier and cheaper, and to help existing services operate in a simpler way.

The changes remove previous requirements that meant new early childhood centres had to justify demand to the Ministry of Education.

But the manager of a non-profit centre in Wellington says this change puts her centre at risk of closure.

“We’re not making money off children, so any centre could pop up next to us and offer cheaper fees,” Megan White, manager of Capital Kids Cooperative, said, particularly as the changes enabled lower wages.

She was also concerned about the removal of changes that would have taken effect in August and required a person with a full practising certificate on site all the time.

Dr Sarah Alexander, chief adviser at the Office of the Early Childhood Education, shared White’s concerns around enabling inexperienced teachers to be left in charge.

Nikki Parsons, general manager at Te Rito Maioha-Early Childhood NZ, an industry group that trains early childhood teachers and supports centres, was more welcoming of the changes but said the trick would be ensuring quality was maintained while cutting red tape.

The changes were praised by the Early Childhood Council’s chief executive, Simon Laube, who said layers of regulation over the years had stifled innovation and created barriers and hidden costs.