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Growth In ECE Chains The 'Start Of An Ongoing Development'

The arrival of Macquarie Bank's Forward Steps group in New Zealand brings to five the number of (early childhood education) ECE chains in the country, and is likely the start of an ongoing development in the sector, says Early Childhood Council chief executive Sue Thorne. Mrs Thorne said many small, stand-alone centres had been approached recently about selling up to larger chains. The rise of the larger ownership structures provided another type of centre for the sector and so was a positive move to broaden the ECE choices available to families. "The chains add another dimension to ECE in New Zealand and so give more choice to parents," Mrs Thorne said. "One of the interesting things is that they often haven't changed the names of many of the centres they have purchased and you wouldn't actually know they are all one in the same; so it will be interesting to see if they keep the cottagey-feel of many of their acquired centres. "It is often quite an intimate relationship that parents have with their child's ECE centre, so with centres' identities still intact parents can still have confidence that the centres they know and trust are to keep going." Mrs Thorne said that with the growing bureaucratic demands from government and administrative burdens that small centres faced, larger ownership structures could have advantages in reducing costs. "It is ironic that the government has made it clear they don't like having corporates in the sector and don't mind so much the small stand-alone owners but they are pushing many of the smaller ones out with their bureaucratic demands, and in doing so are opening the door for large corporate ownership." Mrs Thorne said large organisations could be good for staff who wanted a more structured career path - "it's something that has been missing from the sector". "It allows people who want to, to move into management. It also means people who want to specialise in certain roles can do so, rather than having to have a hand in everything, as they do in smaller centres." Mrs Thorne said that in Australia, ECE chains often looked to set up centres in female-dominated workplaces such as banks and hospitals, and that might be a development in New Zealand. "Overall, it is good to have another layer of ECE provider in New Zealand, and we look forward to seeing what impact they have here." This article is taken from Subtext: The Newsletter of the Education Forum Click here to read an article about the Macquarie Bank's inverstment in New Zealand childcare. Macquarie Bank Invests in NZ Early Childhood Education This article was first published in the September 2005 issue of Subtext - The Education Forum on-line newsletter available at this link: Education Forum

30/09/05 - Education Forum