20 hours-free childcare expansion could compromise standards, force closures - sector leaders

Early Childhood Education leaders are seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister and Associate Minister of Education as they fear the Government’s 20-hours-free expansion could compromise childcare standards and force centres to close.

Budget 2023 included extending 20 hours of free early childcare per week to apply to 2-year-olds in addition to children 3 and above, which was a welcome relief for some new parents struggling with the high cost of living and by sector leaders.

However, those same leaders are now sounding the alarm about conditions within the expansion that childcare centres must meet in order to offer the 20 hours for free.

New Shoots Children’s Centre director Kelly Seaburg told the Herald the Government’s additional funding of the 20-hours-free package - $1.2 billion over four years - was developed using a 1:10 teacher-to-child ratio.

Seaburg said it was generally accepted that 1:10 was not an appropriate ratio to deliver quality childcare, particularly to 2-year-olds, who had higher needs than older children.

New Shoots Children’s Centre director Kelly Seaburg. Photo / Supplied

This view had been reinforced by the Education Ministry through its Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029. It said ratios of 1:4 for under 2-year-olds and 1:5 for 2-year-olds would become “requirements for teacher-led centre-based services”.

Only funding a 1:10 ratio meant centres were faced with the impossible choice of compromising the quality of their childcare or reaching into their own depleted pockets to pay for more teachers, given centres were prohibited from passing the cost on to parents.

“It’s unworkable ... the policy is tremendous, but the conditions are not,” Seaburg said.

“We really are left with no ability to absorb this kind of policy.”

One response could be to reduce operating hours, but Seaburg said that would put parents in a difficult position trying to balance their work commitments if they had less childcare.

She said parents who utilised the full 20-hours-free could save up to $130 in fees if the expansion - set to begin from March next year - was applied in accordance with how it was done currently.

Seaburg and other sector leaders, who represent three-quarters of the 4579 early childcare providers in New Zealand, wrote to Education Minister Jan Tinetti and Associate Education Minister Jo Luxton - who was responsible for early childcare - last week to request a meeting to discuss solutions.

Seaburg was hopeful for an outcome if they could secure a meeting, given Tinetti was a former principal and Luxton formerly ran an early childcare centre.

She feared some centres would close if a workable solution wasn’t found.

The issue added to a stressed sector currently left in the dark on a proposed model for pay parity, Seaburg said.

She explained that while the model of more pay for more experienced teachers was a good one, it lacked detail on how much the Government would be contributing to that funding boost, making it impossible for centre leaders to plan for staffing changes.

“This is a sector I’ve never seen so fired up.”