KEY POINTS:
The Government is to fund up to $212 a week for each child to get 20 free hours of early childhood education, but childcare organisations claim the offerings are too paltry to entice a wide sign-up by the centres.
Education Minister Steve Maharey said yesterday the Government would finance each child between $3.03 to $10.60 an hour for 20 weekly hours of free early education.
The funding for three and four-year-old children would be available from July 1 and was expected to benefit up to 92,000 children in the first year, Mr Maharey said.
A key part of Labour's election promises, the policy and increased subsidies for paid-for hours are expected to cost $128 million over four years. Last year, 185,500 children were enrolled in about 4400 early childhood centres - about 94 per cent of all three and four-year-olds.
Early Childhood Council chief executive Sue Thorne said the new 20 free hours funding was only $1 to $4.60 more than present subsidies, on top of which parents now paid an average of $7 to $8 an hour.
"It is significantly lower than what we imagined and lower than what is needed if they're hoping for a wide uptake by centres. Centres are not prepared to compromise what they offer to parents, so their choice will be to refuse the free hours."
She said there would be less buy-in in cities such as Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, where the wage costs and property costs were higher.
The National spokeswoman on early childhood education, Paula Bennett, said it could force some centres into charging parents for "optional extras". Such payments were supposedly voluntary, but were effectively fees from parents whose children might have to move to a different centre if they could not afford the extras.
"People will say yes, because the centre is where they need it to be or a well-respected centre. This will be a huge issue in places like Auckland's central city and Mt Eden."
The New Zealand Childcare Association said some of its members would be anxious about a possible gap between their costs and the funding rates.
Chief executive Nancy Bell said: "It is possible some will need to explore options such as reviewing enrolment or charging systems, or applying optional charges for extra services."
Jeanette Clarkin-Phillips, NZEI member and lecturer in early childhood education at Waikato University, said:
"It will be ironic if commercial early childhood centres that lobbied relentlessly to be included in the 20 free hours policy now decide they won't provide it because to do so would have an adverse affect on their profit margins."
From July, the Government will also pay subsidies of $3.03 to $6 a child an hour up to a maximum of 30 hours a week - up to 13 per cent higher than present subsidies.
Under the 20 free hours policy, all day centres where all staff are registered teachers qualify for the top rate of $10.60 a child an hour for the 20 hours of free education.
Those where fewer than a quarter of the staff are registered teachers qualify for the lowest rate of $7.36. Participating centres can charge fees for longer than 20 hours, which the Government will subsidise between $3.03 and $6 for up to 30 hours.
