Minister Warned to Leave Childhood Education Alone
Friday 6 Sep 2002
The best thing the Government can do for early childhood education providers is to leave them alone, Act New Zealand
Associate Spokesman Deborah Coddington said today.
"For that reason, I am pleased to read that advice to the Minister includes a veiled warning about the impact of
"future direct Government ownership of ECE services and to consider the future impact of this on other providers".
"The briefing goes on to warn the Government about the costs to parents of moves to increase qualifications, staffing
ratios, and remuneration.
"The BIM rightly points out that this could have significant consequences for "some parents' labour force participation
- especially for low-income women."
"On behalf of all parents who use early childhood providers, I call on Education Minister Trevor Mallard to take this
advice very seriously," Miss Coddington said.
Ends