Early childhood centres hit by funding cuts

Friday 25 June, 2010

Nationwide survey predicts both fee hikes and a decline in service quality at early childhood centres

The results of a nationwide survey suggest that many thousands of parents can expect both fee hikes and loss of service quality at early childhood centres, as a result of an early childhood education funding cut announced in last month’s Budget.

The survey, carried out earlier this month (June 2010), was responded to by leaders running 526 early childhood centres and responsible for the education and care of more than 25,000 children.

The survey reveals that the Government decision to cut funding for those centres with 80 per cent or more qualified staff is likely to result in fee increases for the overwhelming majority of parents with children attending such centres.
Only 4.5 per cent of those in centres affected by the funding cut said there would be ‘no increase’ in fees for parents, with a majority intending increases between $10 and $40 a week per child, and a minority (8.2 per cent) intending increases in excess of $40 a week. (18.2 per cent said they did not yet know whether or not they would raise fees.)

Leaders of almost all centres with 80 per cent or more qualified staff expected a substantial loss of Government revenue, with most expecting to lose between $20,000 and $80,000 a year per centre, and some more than this.
The survey reveals that cuts in service quality are likely. 47.7% of affected centre leaders said either ‘yes’ or ‘considering it’ when asked if they were planning ‘to reduce service levels or service quality’ as a result of the funding cut.

64.5 per cent said either ‘yes’ or ‘considering it’ when asked if they were planning to reduce the proportion of qualified teachers on their staff. And 45.4 per cent said they were either committed to or considering reducing the ratio of staff to children.

63.6 per cent said they were either committed to or considering reducing professional development opportunities for staff.

Centres also said they would be spending less on food for children, reducing the number of excursions, reducing the number of centre hours, and reducing building maintenance.

The survey found that the decision of Government to cut funding for those centres with 80 per cent or more qualified staff had forced many affected centres to make plans for increasing pressure on parents to pay more for 20 Hours ‘optional charges’. (Only 22.3 per cent answered ‘no’ when asked if they were planning to do this.)
And more than a quarter of such centres were either committed to, or considering leaving the 20 Hours scheme altogether.

Survey results suggested that children from low-income families were likely to bear the worst of the Government funding cut for centres with 80 per cent or more qualified staff.

It found that less than 17 per cent of centre leaders, who described the average income level of their families as ‘low income’, said ‘no increase’ when asked how much more a week the average family could expect to be paying.
The survey found that these ‘low-income’ centre leaders were more likely than ‘high/middle income’ centre leaders to be planning to reduce the proportion of qualified teachers on their staff, more likely than high/middle income centre leaders to be planning to reduce the number of staff per child, and more likely to be reducing professional development opporunities fo teaching staff.

Early Childhood Council (ECC) CEO Peter Reynolds said the survey data was ‘concerning’.

‘It suggests that almost all parents (with children in centres with 80 per cent or more qualified staff) might be in line for increases in fees and drops in service quality.

‘It suggests there is going be increased pressure for parents to pay more money themselves to make up for the loss of Government funding.

‘It suggests that because low income parents are less able to pay increased fees, the children of these parents are more likely to be in centres that have no option but to cut service quality.

‘And it suggests that too many of these low-income families may find themselves unable to afford any form of early childhood education.’

Mr Reynolds said the survey was ‘only a snapshot’ of what early childhood centre leaders were making of the Budget. And it was possible that the negative picture would improve as centres had time to develop strategies for adjusting to the ‘sudden and radical change in their funding’.

The ECC would be resurveying its membership near the end of the year to see if the prospects for families had changed, he said.

The survey was carried out from 02 until 06 June. The total number of respondents was 260, responsible for running 526 centres. 36.2% of respondents were from community-owned centres, 63.8% from privately owned centres.
Respondents ran centres from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South. They included mainstream centres with no particular specialisation, Montessori, Rudolf Steiner, Pacifica, Maori, Reggio Emilia, those with religious affiliations including Christian, those located at hospitals, those specialised in supporting teenage parents, and those focussed on supporting children with special needs.

The Early Childhood Council is the largest representative body of licensed early childhood centres in New Zealand. Its almost 1,300 member centres are both community-owned and commercially owned and employ more than 7,000 staff; offering early childhood education services to over 50,000 children.

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