We’re pretty passionate about advocating for our children, families, educators and teachers. The recent Government announcement about expanding childcare assistance next year will definitely help to widen ECE access by providing financial support for struggling families. We support this move, however, also want to see the wider early learning sector funded in a way that will enable services to meet an increase in family demand and support the best possible learning outcomes for our tamariki.
Our sector is struggling with long-standing funding deficits and, while increasing childcare assistance for families supports participation in ECE, we also need to know that all services are able to deliver on their promise of high-quality provision. This can only happen with dedicated Government support and a universal review of the service funding model to allow services to take good care of their educators and the children and families entrusted into their care. Increased service funding will allow for higher-quality outcomes for children and better working conditions for teachers.
For every $1 we spend on early childhood care & education, we save $8 in justice, social and health services later in life. It’s a no-brainer!
Read more about this, from our Founding Director, Erin Maloney.