Media Releases

ECC Media Release - 21 May 2010

21 May 2010 MEDIA RELEASE Peter Reynolds, CEO of the Early Childhood Council (ECC), says the Government’s removal of the 80% to 100% funding band has been a blow for many early childhood centres. Mr Reynolds said many centres had invested money and effort into the building of their qualified teacher capacity. ‘They have encouraged staff, and in some instances they have invested their own money into funding educational programmes,’ he said. And many were feeling as if they had wasted their money and time, and that those who had gone the extra mile to achieve a government goal were now being rebuffed by government. ‘To remove the goal and its associated funding penalises harshly those centres that have achieved it or are close to achieving it, and the impact on our membership is substantial,’ Mr Reynolds said. An informal survey of the ECC’s membership identified that over a third were likely to be affected by the move. Of that third, nearly a half were intending to increase their fees as a result. And the same number was intending to review staffing in order to manage the effect of the funding cut. Mr Reynolds said the cost impact of the removal of the 80% to 100% funding band varied from centre to centre, but was ‘substantial for many’. And a number of centres were now very concerned about the impact of this on their businesses. The Early Childhood Council believed there were ‘alternative options’ for government to consider around this issue and would be seeking an urgent meeting with Minister of Education Anne Tolley to this end, Mr Reynolds said. The Early Childhood Council supported the Government’s goal of new funding to increase participation in early childhood education, he said. But it was concerned also to minimise the impact on those early childhood centres that had worked hard to achieve a level of service encouraged by government. The Early Childhood Council is the largest representative body of licensed early childhood centres in New Zealand. Our 1000+ member centres are both community-owned and commercially owned, employ more than 7000 staff and care for more than 50,000 children. Contact for more information: Peter Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer, (04) 566 4606

21/05/10 - Peter Reynolds