Te Rito Maioha welcomes per student funding increase

Te Rito Maioha welcomes per student funding increase

28 June 2018

Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand Chief Executive, Kathy Wolfe has welcomed the 1.6% student subsidy rate increase, announced by the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins yesterday.

‘As a Private Training Establishment that provides New Zealand with one out of four newly qualified early childhood teachers every year, the Minister’s announcement is a welcome boost,’ says Ms Wolfe.

‘The increase goes a small way to reversing the lack of investment experienced by the tertiary education sector over the past decade.

‘More must be done, however, to make a career in early childhood education more attractive, if we are to have enough qualified early childhood teachers in New Zealand.

‘At the moment, New Zealand is at least 360 qualified early childhood teachers short a year, thanks to a 4% attrition rate. That 360 figure does not take into account growth in demand for early childhood teachers, particularly in areas like Auckland.’

Ms Wolfe says moving to pay parity with primary and secondary school teachers would make early childhood teaching a lot more attractive.

‘After all, to become fully qualified, early childhood teachers must jump through the same hoops as their school sector peers. They must complete a three-year Bachelor’s level qualification and undergo the same registration process before the Education Council registers them as teachers.

‘They also have comparable student loans to repay.’

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