Early Childhood Council calls for balanced view

Early Childhood Council calls for balanced view on so called ECE research

The Early Childhood Council (ECC) says so-called research released today about the early childhood education (ECE) sector lacks integrity and needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

The Chief Executive of the ECC, Peter Reynolds, questions the way data is summarised and presented in the employment survey undertaken by the Child Forum.

He says the scope of the reporting seems to be narrow and heavily skewed against childcare centres, which brings in to question the balance of the research.

“The ECC advises parents and caregivers to trust their judgement on the ECE services they use, and also advocates for people to do their own research when choosing an ECE provider, to find one that suits them, their child and their family needs,” Peter Reynolds says.

New Zealand has an excellent and world leading early childhood education curriculum, Te Whāriki, and has a model that offers a variety and choice of different ECE options for families and caregivers. This model works well.

There are also checks and balances in place in New Zealand including licensing, Ministry of Education processes and procedures, and Education Review Office reporting.

While there are always areas of any sector that could be improved, Mr Reynolds says the Ministry of Education has processes in place to work with ECE services that need help. It is not terribly responsible for a so-called sector lobby group to put scaremongering statements out like this.

The Early Childhood Council is the largest representative body of licensed early childhood centres in New Zealand. It is not-for-profit and bi-partisan.

The member centres we represent care for and educate more than 50,000 New Zealand children, and employ more than 7,000 staff. ENDS

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