8. KATHERINE RICH (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
Will there be a place available in an early childhood centre offering 20 free hours for all of the 92,000 eligible 3 and 4-year-olds on 1 July 2007; if not, why not?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) Link to this
The Labour-Progressive Government has provided funding for 20 hours’ free early childhood education for up to 92,000 2 and 3-year-olds currently enrolled in teacher-led centres. I am optimistic that on 1 July we will have a good range of centres offering free early childhood education. I am equally optimistic that over a period of time from then on we will see—just as in the case of the primary health organisations—more and more centres taking up the Government’s offer of funding. What I think New Zealanders need to know, however, is whether the National Party will scrap this policy if it ever has a chance to do so, or whether it will come clean, run a flip-flop, and say that it now supports it.
If parents of the 92,000 3 and 4-year-olds the Minister says will benefit from this policy turn up and demand 20 hours’ free on 1 July 2007, can he confirm that his own officials have told him that there is no way there will be spaces nationally for all those children?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
It may be useful for me to just remind the member how this actually takes place. People do not just turn up on 1 July. People fill out an attestation form and take it along to their early childhood centre. There are currently 259,000 forms on order all around the country, so they will have lots to choose from. They take that form along to the centre. The centre then passes that on to the Ministry of Education to register the number of parents it wants funded for 20 hours’ free, and that is how the centre gets the money.
H V Ross Robertson Link to this
Can the Minister tell the House whether he has seen any reports at all proposing that the policy of 20 free hours’ early childhood education be abolished?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I think that by now the whole country is on tenterhooks waiting for the National Party to finally come clean and announce that what is on its website is in fact its policy, or—just like some ongoing soap opera—that this will be the latest of its flip-flops.
Does it concern the Minister that the Ministry of Education’s own modelling shows that in one scenario 72 percent of areas will not have enough places for the extra children, under the 20 free hours policy, with Wellington, Canterbury, and Auckland being the regions most at risk; and why does he wax lyrical about handing out 259,000 forms when there are supposedly only 92,000 places, which his officials say cannot be filled?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I want to stress to the member that I am not handing out 259,000 forms; the early childhood centres are ordering those forms, which shows how high the interest is. I refer the member to the fact that she is looking at modelling that shows the growth in early childhood. When we started this policy of 20 hours free, 86,000 3 and 4-year-olds were in early childhood centres; there are now 92,000. At the end of this policy in 2012, when we have rolled out all of the numbers of trained teachers and have built a whole range of new centres, there will be a whole lot more 3 and 4-year-olds in early childhood centres. Is it not a fantastic policy? The member should try agreeing with it.
Why does the Minister continue to promote the 92,000 figure when having access to 20 free hours is not the same as actually getting it, and when his own officials tell him that “Northland, Gisborne, the West Coast, Southland, and Tasman are the regions with the highest proportions of areas not offering ECE” and “Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, and Wellington regions will have the highest proportions of areas that cannot fully cater to the expected demand of 20 hours free”?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I welcome the member’s concern for this policy. It is a policy that, just like the primary health organisation policy, will roll out from 1 July. I am sure the National Party will back it, because it wants to have 20 hours’ free early childhood education for all 3 and 4-year-olds up and down the country. That is what the Government is committed to doing.
If the parents of all those 92,000 3 and 4-year-olds take the Minister’s advice, go down to their centres, and enrol, will there be spaces for all those kids or not?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
The Government has provided funding for 92,000 3 and 4-year-olds in early childhood centres all across the country. Because that is the number of kids who are currently enrolled, if all of those centres take up the Government’s offer then all those kids will have a place.