Rural town fights to keep preschool

By RENEE KIRIONA

The Ministry of Education has been accused of being too harsh in closing down an isolated rural town's only early childhood centre.

The board of trustees for the Kawhia Early Childhood Centre has taken High Court action over the ministry's decision to suspend its licence and funding because it has been unable to find a teacher with a specific early childhood qualification.

At present the centre is supervised by Niki Edwards, 29, who is a qualified primary school teacher.

The seven-month-long debate between the two parties came to a head on Friday when the centre's board of trustees filed a case in the High Court.

The ministry argued that although Mrs Edwards had a bachelor of education degree, majoring in primary school education, she did not hold an early childhood qualification as required under new regulations.

Board chairwoman Virginia Shaw said the ministry had delivered an unfair and cruel blow to the 26 children who attended the centre.

"She [Niki] was appointed because there were no other applicants for the job and that's a reflection of the serious national shortage of early childhood teachers.

"Being an isolated rural centre, which can only offer a salary well below what is available in kindergartens and many urban early childhood centres, is obviously another reason why it's so hard to get people.

"Because we are a bilingual centre it's even more difficult getting a teacher who speaks fluent te reo, which Niki has. We're lucky she even applied for the job."

She said the board respected the rules, but it wanted the ministry's secretary to use his discretionary powers until Mrs Edwards had completed an early childhood programme through the Auckland College of Education.

"We dispute this decision. The secretary's inflexible ruling and the refusal of the minister to intervene has left us with no option but to seek the protection of the court."

The centre, which opened in 2002, is integrated with the Kawhia Primary School, which has a decile one rating.

If the centre is permanently closed, children would have to travel almost 100km every week day to the nearest facility in Otorohanga.

Although the centre's licence had been suspended, it remained open yesterday and would be open today, Mrs Shaw said.

National's education spokesman, Bill English, said the teacher qualification regulation could result in 350 centres throughout the country facing closure.

"We can expect to see more and more of this kind of furore next year when Trevor Mallard's unrealistic registration requirements come into force."