"There is a strong community in Carterton. I guess Playcentre is a part of it."
She said the centre reflected Carterton as a town as it was vibrant and had great people. Playcentre was different from other centres as caregivers could remain with their child and education courses were available for adults.
Mrs Earnshaw said the centre could always do with more funding and community support.
She said Playcentre's national network was changing and there was a proposal to remove the Wairarapa association entity, though the changes were about supporting remote rural areas and the centres themselves would not change.
Ministry of Education spokesman for early learning Rawiri Brell said centres were funded based on the number of enrolments, as were all Early Childhood Education (ECE) and schools.
Total funding to playcentres had been decreasing because enrolment had been declining, however funding per enrolment was rising, in line with the rest of the ECE sector.
The Government was spending more than ever before on ECE - from about .8 billion in 2007/08 to about $1.6 billion in 2014/15.
Mr Brell said parents had a range of options when choosing an ECE service for their children. Playcentres were highly valued by the parents and families whose children attended them. The part they play in supporting parents to be a child's first teacher was important for the development of many young children, he said.
Mr Brell said part of the reason enrolments in Playcentre had declined was because they were sessional, meaning they cared for children for up to four hours per day rather than full-time. Working parents were increasingly seeking full-time education and care for their children.
He said the Ministry recognised Playcentre's importance to New Zealand parents and had supported the New Zealand Playcentre Federation as it reviewed and revised its operating model. This included providing a business analyst to help review Playcentres' administrative functions.
Early childhood providers say they will have to raise parent fees as Government funding fails to keep up with inflation and wages.
This year's Budget gave $75 million more over four years to the sector, however most of that was in targeted funding for lower-income families, the New Zealand Herald reported.
The Early Childhood Council, which represents more than 1000 education and care centres across the country, said after adjusting for inflation its universal funding was down 9 per cent since 2010.
The Kindergarten Association said the rate it received an hour for an all day service was less than it was eight years ago.
Playcentre said it got only 60 per cent of what its most similar service, Kohanga Reo, received.
