Early Childhood Council

Early Childhood Council

Big benefits from more even funding - no surprise to the early childhood sector.

Sue Thorne, Chief Executive Officer of the Early Childhood Council says the recently released report from Independent Schools of NZ advocating funding all schools at the same per student level reinforces what the early childhood sector has known for many years.

Evenly funding education brings about higher standards and more choice, which in turn means the specific needs of individual children are more likely to be met.

The early childhood sector has thrived and flourished in NZ since the early 1990s when funding was introduced that allowed parents to make real choices about what type of early childhood service their children attend.

The relatively evenly allocated funding of the early childhood sector has meant that a wide variety of innovative centres have been established that meet the needs of the communities they serve.

After such a great start in their preschool years, how exciting it would be if parents could also look forward to this same level of choice when their children started school, rather than having to fit into the "one size fits all" model of the predominately state provided compulsory sector.

The Early Childhood Sector is a shining, successful example of why funding children equally, irrespective of the management type or ownership of the school they attend is the right way for the compulsory sector to go.

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