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$118 million sunk into flawed IT system that won’t pay ECE teachers properly

The Ministry of Education keeps sinking money into Pourato, a new IT system meant to deliver funding for employers to pay Early Childhood Education teachers, despite sector concerns since 2015 about the outdated funding approach.Early Childhood Council investigations have revealed that designing and building Pourato has cost the taxpayer $118 million since 2015.“The Ministry has some serious questions to answer – why didn’t they stop the Pourato project in 2019 when major failures were rai...

20 Hours ECE funding news a welcome boost for providers

The early learning sector has welcomed the confirmation 20 Hours ECE funding increases in March 2024 will be kept in place.   With no changes to the published 1 March 2024funding rates, it means early learning providers can plan with more confidence for the year ahead.  “It’s extremely heartening the Minister has listened to the sector and kept this funding in place – it’s just what providers needed,” said Early Childhood Council CEO Simon Laube. ...

ECE managers’ pay lagging behind, thanks to Pay Parity policies

A comprehensive survey of early learning sector wages shows Pay Parity is having a positive effect overall on average ECE teacher pay, but reveals the diminishing gap between pay for teachers and managers is ringing alarm bells.The Early Childhood Council Wages & Salaries Survey 2023 showed that overall, certificated early learning teacher wages have increased 9.8% over the last year, and those with over ten years’ experience increased by over 12%.Uncertified teacher wage rises of 5.3% wer...

‘Discrepancy’ of $253 million means 18,000 teachers missing out on Pay Parity and ECEs closing fast

“To see a shortfall of $253 million being labelled as a ‘discrepancy’ by Minister Tinetti was a surprise and seems to down-play something significant - the breaking of Labour’s Pay Parity promise to 18,000 teachers” said Early Childhood Council CEO Simon Laube.A Ministry of Education Cabinet paper shines a light on how difficult this year’s secondary school industrial action was for the previous government, not provisioning sufficient funds to fully honour the outcome of the sec...

Employers committed to ECE Fair Pay Agreement process

The Early Childhood Council confirms it’s committed to the Early Childhood Education Fair Pay Agreement process, despite NZEI Te Riu Roa issuing a petition claiming employer representatives weren’t coming to the table.“Nothing has changed – the ECC is working alongside our fellow employer party representatives, and intend to continue the process in good faith,” said ECC CEO Simon Laube.An inter-party side agreement is the next step in the FPA process with a meeting scheduled ...

Win for ECE providers as Ministry of Education confirms common sense building WoF approach

The Early Childhood Council welcomes the Ministry of Education’s clarification they won’t automatically remove early learning centre licences if their building loses its warrant of fitness under new MBIE guidelines, after an ECC investigation.“This is a relief for ECC members and all centres. Knowing your licence could still be removed anytime is still a risk, but at least it won’t be because of this Building Warrant of Fitness issue any more. It’s heartening to see some common sense b...

Inflexible building rules could see Ministry of Education suspend early learning licences overnight

Lack of clarity with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s new approach to building regulation could see Ministry of Education shut early learning centres overnight, leaving parents scrambling for care and massive disruption for providers.“Providers just want certainty,” said Early Childhood Council CEO Simon Laube. “Of course buildings must be safe, but right now, centres could be shut down in 24 hours for really minor issues. There’s no consistent national approach to...

Ministry of Education uses flawed data to impose further regulation on ECE Sector

From August 2024, new regulations contained in the Education and Training Act state a ‘person responsible’ at each centre must at all times hold a category one or two practising certificate early childhood qualification.The Ministry of Education’s regulatory impact statement supporting the changes states that: “Teaching Council data indicates that around 99% of current ECE trained teachers hold a category One or Two practising certificate”.That data has been used by the Ministry t...

Kiddywinkles Helping Kids in Need

Early Childhood Education is a wonderful industry to be in but as we all know, it comes with a unique host of challenges. Overriding the pressure from these challenges is the personal pleasure of seeing the joy on a child’s face as they experience the wonders of early learning.We are motivated by our desire to prepare children for their educational journey and to give them the very best start possible. It is indeed gratifying watching a little one start in the baby room and progress year by ye...

Government’s Pay Parity promise is broken

Early learning providers’ funding is going backwards, despite government promises of Pay Parity for teachers employed in Education & Care services.Despite kindergarten teachers’ representatives agreeing to a new teacher pay scale the day after Budget 2023, when the Ministry of Education published Full Parity rates to be effective from 1 November, these rates weren’t Parity, creating much concern for ECE providers and their teachers alike.Now, secondary teachers have won further salary ...

Early Childhood Council releases its vision for higher quality and more sustainable early learning

Politicians contesting the 2023 General Election need to understand the fundamental issues that need their attention if early learning services are to survive, let alone thrive, for the good of children and whānau, says the Early Childhood Council.“Our children’s early learning touches a huge number of New Zealanders. Those with children in childcare or who can’t find or afford it, those working in the sector and those who may not realise the people they employ rely on affordable and acce...

Early learning teachers’ Pay Equity process in doubt

The Education Minister’s decision to defer giving teachers in-principle government support to funding their Pay Equity settlement means increased uncertainty and pressure for Early Childhood employers, who have no such luxury once a settlement occurs.Under the agreed terms, this government commitment was due before the investigation started, but has now run for nearly 12 months without it.“We’re mid-way through the investigation, and now the sector learns this decision that we should’ve ...

No guarantee the secondary teacher salary increase will be matched for early learning teachers

Teachers in education and care centres must wait to see if the Government will match the 14.5% secondary school teacher salary increases for early learning.If the offer gets accepted by the PPTA there’s no certainty that education and care teachers, who make up the majority of the ECE workforce, will be included or how it will be funded.“Improving pay is an important part of solving the teacher shortage, bearing in mind these increases are still a lot lower than teacher salaries in some Aust...

ECC withdraws Pay Parity legal action after significant early learning investment promise in Budget 2023

Budget 2023’s promise of significant additional ECE funding has the potential to help many centres avoid financial unviability and hardship, as long as the current 20-hours conditions are kept, prompting the Early Childhood Council to withdraw its urgent legal action.“Taking legal action sent the Government a clear message – we will hold you to account. The sector will not sit by as it pushes through questionable policies,” said ECC CEO Simon Laube.“The new early learning investment pr...

Minister agrees to look into Early Childhood Education concerns

We were proud to join with ECE sector leaders on this message.Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector leaders met with Minister Luxton, in Minister Tinetti’s absence, to discuss their concerns following the budget announcement of 20 hours free ECE for 2-year-olds. The sector’s strong advice is that if implemented with the proposed criteria, many services, including Homebased, would be forced to close, lay off teachers, and operate with unsafe teacher child ratios where services operate in thi...

ECE budget promised a Ferrari but delivered a lemon

We were proud to join with ECE sector leaders on this message.Read the open letter to Minister Tinetti here.Early Childhood Education leaders representing three quarters of the 4,579 ECE providers in Aotearoa have joined together in an open letter to the Minister of Education calling on her to rethink the unworkable 20 hours fees free conditions for two year olds and the pay parity consultation.The 20 hours free ECE for two-year olds policy was announced without any prior consultation with ...

Early learning centre closures continue to mount up

70 early learning centres shut their doors in the year-ended June 2022, showing how tough it is for community-based leaders and business owners to run financially sustainable ECE operations within the current Pay Parity initiatives and rising costs.91 centres have already closed in the ten-month period to May 2023, greatly exceeding the 2022 full-year figure already.“The average centre enrolled about 41 children, meaning that over 3,700 children and families lost their chosen early learning op...

Lack of data in early learning consultation leaves providers flying blind

The Ministry of Education’s own sector Expert Advisory Group (EAG) holds serious concerns with the Pay Parity funding review.They say it’s impossible for providers to determine if the proposed changes are viable for their centre, because of insufficient detail and lack of data.This is backed up by a 5 May poll of Early Childhood Council members, 71% of whom were very unsatisfied with the Ministry’s funding consultation document. In the same poll, 87% of respondents said it was completely u...

20 hours free care on the chopping block in worrying ECE consultation

The government’s plans to dump initiatives like 20 hours free Early Childhood Education, subsidies for children under two and 100% qualified teacher funding bands will mean increased parent fees and a bleak future for providers.“Parents should be really concerned – you’re likely to be paying a lot more for your child’s care soon, and good luck finding somewhere to take your under-two year old,” said Early Childhood Council CEO Simon Laube.The ECC says there’s unlikely to be much mo...

Priority hearing for ECC Pay Parity legal action set for 19 and 20 July

The Early Childhood Council’s legal action against the government filed on 18 March 2023 has met the criteria for a priority hearing and is set down for 19 and 20 July in the Wellington High Court. Members of the public are welcome to attend.The ECC is suing the government on grounds that the early learning teacher Pay Parity initiatives are inconsistent with the right to freedom from discrimination, in the Human Rights and New Zealand Bill of Rights Acts, and that the way the initiatives are ...

Pay Parity fact sheet

Who funds early learning providers?The Minister of Education determines the amount of grants to providers, and how they're calculated.Where else does early learning providers’ revenue come from?Centres may also derive some of their operating revenue from fees or donations by the parents and whānau of attending children.Nearly a quarter of centres represented by the Council operate in disadvantaged areas where parents cannot afford to pay higher fees. Even in other, less disadvantaged areas, c...

Pay Parity inconsistent with older teachers' right to freedom from discrimination - ECC to file legal action

The Early Childhood Council is suing the government, on grounds that the early learning teacher Pay Parity initiatives breach the right to freedom from discrimination for older female teachers under the Human Rights and New Zealand Bill of Rights Acts. The funding gap between higher salary steps centres have to pay teachers, and Ministry of Education funding is also irrational and unreasonable.“This is about holding the government to account. If this discrimination isn’t addressed, it’ll c...

Major ECE wage and salary survey shows experienced teachers are getting squeezed out

A comprehensive early learning wages and salaries survey shows Pay Parity’s negative impact on teachers and providers by making experienced teachers increasingly unaffordable.“This data shows that hiring the most experienced teachers simply isn’t viable. Does the government really want Pay Parity to go down as a policy that incentivises centres to hire less experienced teachers? Our most experienced teachers either miss out or go to work feeling guilty their centre can’t afford them – ...

Extended Pay Parity not working for many early learning centres - new data

Despite more Early Childhood Education centres opting into the government’s Extended Pay Parity scheme in the last quarter, the Ministry of Education’s own data is worrying.The pre-Christmas lift in funding rate has encouraged 54% of centres to opt into extended pay parity, but for many, the funding still falls well short of increases in teacher wages.“We expected that more centres would opt in due to the higher rates, but interestingly 53 centres who said they’d opt into EPP in November...

National's Family Boost policy offers quality early learning access to more children

National’s Family Boost policy offers more children the education and social benefits of quality ECE, and will be a welcome relief for parents struggling to pay rising fees.“More investment in early learning is fantastic for our tamariki and their families, even more so for children from disadvantaged backgrounds,” said Early Childhood Council CEO Simon Laube.“This initiative would offer Auckland centres struggling after lockdowns and the summer’s weather events an urgently needed boos...