Playcentre Threatened by Funding Cuts

Playcentre Threatened by Funding Cuts

18 July 2011

A 70-year-old Kiwi institution could be over if proposed changes to early childhood education are introduced.

The ECE Taskforce Report, commissioned by the government to investigate returns on investment in the early childhood sector, proposes reducing Playcentre funding by 63%, making the more than 460 centres nationwide non-viable.

Playcentres are parent-led early childhood education centres that began in Wellington in 1941 to support families and communities during the war.

Playcentre pioneered child-led play-based learning, now a cornerstone of the Ministry of Education's early childhood curriculum Te Whaariki, the current world-class education used by all ECEs in New Zealand (it is so successful Japan is now copying Playcentre’s unique model).

For 70 years Playcentre has supported and educated New Zealand parents, with their adult training programmes now being NZQA-approved. Through this parent-educator model, Playcentre supports skills development and empowers adults to higher education, giving parents a place to maintain and use workforce skills.

Under the proposed new funding mechanism outlined in the Taskforce Report, Playcentre is classed as ‘other’, meaning drastic funding cuts.

About Playcentre:
Playcentre is a centre-based service that provides high-quality early childhood education to the children who attend.

With more than 460 Playcentres (11,000 families), including many in more rural areas with few ECE options, Playcentre is physically and financially accessible.

The fact that Playcentre provides high-quality early childhood education can be evidenced by several NZ-based research studies, including the Competent Children’s study, but also by objective indicators such as our relatively low average rate of ERO secondary reviews (approx 7%) compared to the overall average of other service types (approx 11%).

Playcentre educates and empowers parents to be fully involved in their children’s early childhood education. This has been shown by research to lead to positive outcomes for families and children, as well as to increased human capital within society as a whole.

Playcentre is a relatively low-cost option for both families and government that continues to provide high quality education for children as well as education and support for parents.

About the Taskforce Report:
Qualified teachers are not the only indicator of a quality service.

The Taskforce acknowledges that parental involvement is key to quality in ECE.

The distinction between ‘high quality, teacher-led services’ and ‘other services’ and the recommendation of a funding model that differentiates on this basis, is seriously concerning.

Quality delivery of ECE is vitally important but how this could be measured and reported is concerning. An approach that is ‘tick box’ or standards-based would be destructive to the holistic philosophy of Te Whaariki.

Playcentre will be holding a National Day of Celebration: Proud to Be Playcentre on August 8 to highlight the importance of Playcentre to New Zealand.

ENDS

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