Most ECE services continue to meet or exceed standards

Great to see most early childhood education (ECE) services continue to meet or exceed standards

12 July 2017

Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand is pleased that more than 97% of licensed ECE services meet or exceed Ministry of Education standards.

‘We applaud the Ministry’s timely release of this data as it shows that the majority of tamariki are in good hands and it helps give parents and caregivers confidence,’ says Te Rito Maioha Chief Executive, Kathy Wolfe.

‘In making this statement, it goes without saying that any practice having a negative impact on tamariki is totally unacceptable. That is why it is good to see the Ministry taking every complaint seriously and where necessary, imposing conditions for improvement or closing the service.’

Ms Wolfe says key to ensuring ECE quality is maintained and improved is attracting and retaining greater numbers of qualified ECE teachers.

‘More must be done to make a career in early childhood attractive if we are to have enough qualified ECE teachers in this country.

‘At the moment, we are at least 360 qualified early childhood teachers short a year, not helped by a 4% attrition rate. Neither does this figure take into account growth in demand for early childhood teachers, particularly in places like Auckland.’

Ms Wolfe says moving towards pay parity with primary and secondary school teachers would go a long way towards attracting quality teachers into the ECE profession.

‘After all, to become fully qualified, early childhood teachers have to achieve the same three-year Bachelor’s level qualification and undergo the same registration process before the Education Council registers them as teachers.’

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