KEY POINTS:
Education Minister Anne Tolley said yesterday the rules, due to be introduced on December 1, would be delayed for six months and reviewed.
Mrs Tolley said examples of incoming regulations causing "great angst" among providers included having learning plans for children at gym creches and centres being required to have compulsory sleeprooms - even if they would not be used.
"Pushing these regulations through at this stage of the year is unacceptable," she said. "New services will be licensed and existing services relicensed under the current regulations while the new regulations are reviewed."
Labour education spokesman Chris Carter said extensive consultation had already been done with feedback from more than 600 services.
"I think the period of six months consultation will reveal very much the same things that our long period of consultation revealed. The sector and parents are interested in quality, safe environments for their children where some learning is taking place."
Mr Carter said 90 per cent of providers already had separate sleeprooms and most submitters in the earlier consultation responded that the rooms were needed.
But Early Childhood Council chief executive Dr Sarah Farquhar said while rules ensuring safety and quality were good, there was a danger of over-regulating the sector.
She said too many rules threatened the long tradition of diversity in preschools, in which kohanga reo and faith-based centres are among the many options to which parents can send their children.
Dr Farquhar said the sleeprooms were contentious because some groups believed children should not be closed off in a separate room to sleep.
The council would ask its 1000-strong membership for feedback.
Dr Farquhar said centres welcomed the certainty provided by yesterday's announcement as preschools were in limbo because National had only just acted after pledging before the election its intention to introduce the six-month freeze.
She said some centres had faced alterations costing several thousand dollars to met licensing requirements under the regime that was about to start.
"My email box has been full from different centres saying they are required to do this, that and the other by the Ministry [of Education] because the ministry has been proceeding on the basis that the new regulations are coming in."
