Kindergartens Aotearoa welcomes the Government announcements relating to early childhood education. Extending the 20
hours subsidy to two year olds will provide much needed relief for parents, whānau and early childhood providers.
“The announcement extending the 20 hours free subsidy to two year olds will be a significant and direct benefit to
children and their families” says spokesperson Amanda Coulston.
Similarly Kindergartens Aotearoa supports the commitment to pay parity with kindergartens for teachers in the wider
early childhood sector. “A teacher is a teacher is a teacher” says Coulston, “All teachers should receive the same pay
for the same qualification and the same job, but that needs to be delivered via a collective employment agreement, just
as it is in the Kindergarten sector. We look forward to further work being done on this in the months ahead”.
The increases to travel subsidies, dropping the prescription charges, and support for social housing are all initiatives
that will make a tangible and positive difference for children.
Kindergartens Aotearoa is a collective of six regional kindergarten associations around the country that operate almost
half of New Zealand’s kindergartens and other early childhood education services, catering for 14,000 children.