Minister’s target put above giving kids the best start

Information obtained by the Green Party today shows the Education Minister has sought no data or proof that her Government’s drive to increase the numbers of children in Early Childhood Education (ECE) is leaving those children better off.

A Green Party parliamentary question shows that school readiness of children is not being monitored, despite large changes in early childhood education. The National Government has set a Better Public Service target of 98 percent participation rate by 2016 in Early Childhood Education, without seeking any evidence that children are better off as a result.

“By pushing participation rates at any cost, the Government is knowingly putting very young children at risk,” Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty said today.

“All the evidence shows that young children are only better off in ECE if the quality is very high. The Minister is choosing not to focus on quality in her drive to meet her own attendance targets. It’s no surprise to learn now that she has also chosen not to know if children she is driving into ECE are any better off for it.

“The Education Ministry, the Education Review Office, the chief education science advisor and advisory groups have all told the Minister there are serious quality issues with some early childhood education services, and these were putting thousands of kids at risk.

“Everything the Government has done has driven down the quality of ECE at the same time it has been forcing more and more children to participate.

“This Government scrapped the requirement for all teachers in the sector to be qualified, it has encouraged the proliferation of low quality ECE, scrapped a review of the home based sector following serious concerns, and threatened to cut families’ benefits if they don’t enrol their children in ECE.

“Early childhood education is relied upon by many families around the country, and families should be able to trust that their kids are being properly educated and looked after,” Ms Delahunty said.

Action

Protect Nature

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing Aotearoa. Volu...

Action

Save Auckland's Climate Budget

Sign the petition to stop Mayor Wayne Brown's proposal for dangerous cuts to climate and environmental programmes that protect us from extreme weat...

Action

No New Mines 2023

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Trains for Climate

Add your name to our open letter urging the Minister for Finance Grant Robertson to save our passenger trains between Wellington, the Wairarapa and...

Action

Healthy Oceans 2022

Join our Healthy Oceans Crew to help us keep the health and protection of our oceans high on the Labour Government’s political agenda.

Action

It's time: A Ministry for Rainbow Communities

Join our call asking the Prime Minister to establish a Ministry for Rainbow Communities that can champion Rainbow issues.

Action

No new mines on conservation land

Sign the open letter asking Labour Ministers to stick to their promise of banning new mining projects on conservation land.

Action

Allow community ownership of our buses

Public transport is an essential service and helps to tackle the climate crisis by reducing our carbon emissions. But there are barriers to communi...

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Education Announcements

Story

Time to get serious on delivering for families

The Green Party calls on the Government to get serious about supporting families.

Greens back striking teachers

The Green Party stands with ECE teachers striking for better funding and conditions.

Every party needs to step up on school lunches

Labour has finally said it would continue free school lunches - and the Green Party is calling on every party to step up.

Free school lunches paid for with a wealth tax

The Green Party will expand free school lunches and pay for it with a fair tax system.

Greens back striking secondary teachers

The Green Party backs secondary teachers resuming strike action.

ECE extension Green win nearly 10 years in the making

The Green Party is today celebrating Budget 2023 funding extending free ECE to two year olds.