Regulatory Review Report Misses Mark On Quality And Safety

Kindergartens Aotearoa is concerned that the recommendations of the regulatory review will lower standards and heighten concerns about safety – for babies and young children and for staff.

The early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, released this morning, contains 15 recommendations, all accepted by the Minister for Regulation, Hon David Seymour. “We are concerned that putting these recommendations into action may further undermine quality early childhood provision and create unintended consequences that result in unsafe conditions for babies, children and staff”. Says Amanda Coulston, Kindergartens Aotearoa Spokesperson.

The Minister has said that the report has recommended removing, changing, or merging 74% of the regulatory criteria so it focuses on children’s welfare and education. Kindergartens Aotearoa remains concerned that such a significant move may result in unsafe conditions for babies, young children, and staff.

The report does not outline at any point the conditions required to provide high quality early childhood education in different settings. This is a fundamental flaw of the report because the recommendations are therefore not referenced against quality indicators of education provision for babies and young children. “Of particular concern is Recommendation 10, to allow greater flexibility in workforce qualifications. Research shows that qualified registered teachers are a key indicator of quality in centre-based services and yet the report has made no recommendation about increasing the number of qualified teachers in regulated positions from the 50% that currently exists, instead they are recommending more so-called flexibility”.

We continue to be concerned that private centres are trying to use the government’s review of regulations to drive down quality and reduce teachers’ pay so they can make greater profits from taxpayer funds. It is this private structure that has led New Zealand to have some of the highest fees in the world, while spending a significant amount of public money on early childhood subsidies, which can end up in private profits. None of this has been addressed in the report – indeed the report makes reference to creating conditions to enable new providers to “enter the market”.

“The Minister has indicated he will take a paper to Cabinet early in the New Year with the intention of turning these recommendations into actions. We urge the Minister to be very careful to ensure his actions do not result in lowering standards and safety in early childhood education.

Kindergartens Aotearoa represents six regional kindergarten associations around the country that operate more than 260 of New Zealand’s kindergartens, catering for 12,000 children each day, from Auckland’s North Shore to South Otago.

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