KEY POINTS:
Thousands of Auckland pre-schoolers will miss out on free funding for early childhood education after only half of the city's childcare centres opted into the Government's new scheme.
Ministry of Education figures showed nationally 62 per cent of 2745 centres had joined the scheme, which began yesterday and provides for 20 hours of free early childhood education to 3- and 4-year-olds.
Uptake was lowest in Auckland, where only half of the 904 centres have joined - meaning about 15,000 of the 29,685 eligible children in Auckland will not benefit from the funding.
Wealthier suburbs were particularly hard hit - in the Epsom electorate, which includes Remuera, Epsom and Mt Eden, just one-quarter of centres had signed up.
In North Shore one-third of centres, mainly kindergartens, opted in, and in the Maungakiekie electorate, just 14 out of 44.
Uptake was also low in Manukau, where almost half of the centres have not joined despite it being a target area of the funding because of lower participation by Maori and Pacific Island children.
Prime Minister Helen Clark and Education Minister Steve Maharey claimed the figures were a victory for what Helen Clark said was a visionary policy.
But the low uptake in Auckland, home to one-third of all 3- and 4-year-olds, has led critics to accuse Labour of promising a thoroughbred but delivering a donkey.
National Party leader John Key said centres were attaching so many top-up fees and optional charges to the funding that to call it free was a hollow slogan.
"For many it will not be free, but subsidised. Rather than crowing about the take-up rates, Helen Clark should be apologising for yet another bungled election package."
He said the low uptake in the Manukau area showed it had also failed to hit its target.
Mr Maharey defended the introduction of the $313 million policy, blaming criticism by the National Party and some in the sector for dampening the uptake in Auckland.
He said he was delighted the national figures were so high, with centres in some areas such as Tasman and Nelson adopting it almost universally. Another 34 centres had already joined since the figures were prepared.
Nationwide, the uptake was much higher in small towns, where about 80 per cent of centres were offering it. In larger cities, it was 59 per cent.
Many city centres say the funding does not cover the higher costs of running a centre in a big city and leaves them reliant on the uncertainty of voluntary charges on parents and fee rises in other areas.
Uptake is particularly low among private centres, with fewer than half of 1239 private centres on board, compared with three-quarters of the 1515 community centres.
But the boss of the country's biggest private provider, Kidicorp chief executive Wayne Wright, said private centres paid commercial rents that community centres avoided.
Although his 90 centres would offer the scheme, with average optional charges of $1.75 an hour, he said wage costs alone in Auckland centres had risen by at least 25 per cent since centres were surveyed by the Government last year.
New Zealand Childcare Association chief Nancy Bell said she was heartened by the uptake and almost 80 per cent of its 450 members would offer it immediately. About 75 per cent of the association's Auckland centres were joining.
However, Kirsty Bamford, secretary of parents' lobby group 20 Hours Free Please, said the opt-in rate in Auckland was disappointing.
"Families were hoping for a big break here. We're not talking about saving $5 for a public kindy each session, we're talking about someone paying $25 a session getting a big chunk of it subsidised by the Government."
Mr Maharey said centres would be monitored for extra charges, and any imposing hefty optional charges would lose the funding.
Proportion of centres which have opted into the scheme:
Northland 66%
Auckland 50%
Waikato 63%
Bay of Plenty 59%
Gisborne 86%
Hawkes Bay 71%
Taranaki 79%
Manawatu-Wanganui: 77%
Wellington 66%
Tasman 95%
Nelson 85%
Marlborough 72%
West Coast 73%
Canterbury 62%
Otago 72%
Southland 74%
Total 62%
