Strengthening home-based early childhood education

Media release

5 July 2013

Strengthening home-based early childhood education

The Ministry of Education says it is working closely with the home-based Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector to ensure all children get the best start in education.

Group manager of Early Childhood Education Karl Le Quesne says home-based ECE makes a valuable contribution to children and their families’ lives.

“It plays an important role in supporting parents of young children to work, study and train, especially solo parents who work outside regular hours.

“Last year the Ministry proposed a review of the home-based sector, but we’ve decided not to go ahead with that for now given other work already underway.”

Mr Le Quesne says the review was to ensure that home-based ECE contributes effectively to Government priorities for vulnerable children, in particular the Better Public Services (BPS) target that, in 2016, 98 per cent of children starting school will have participated in quality ECE.

“But any review of home-based ECE should be reconsidered after the Early Learning Information System (ELI) and ECE Funding System Review have been implemented in 2015.

“Many of the funding, transparency and quality concerns that gave rise to the proposed review can be resolved through these two programmes.

“In the meantime, we will continue to use our existing processes to make sure services are well supported to deliver the benefits of good quality ECE to all children. This remains our priority”.

Mr Le Quesne says ELI will ensure there is quality information to inform future decisions about policy; and the ECE Funding System Review will ensure that any future funding system is transparent, flexible and focused on the needs of the child.

“We are looking forward to working with the home-based sector to find innovative ways to increase their enrolments of children who can benefit the most from early learning.

“We are working with the New Zealand Home-based Association and the Home Early Learning Organisation to progress this”.

Notes:

As at July 2012 home-based ECE makes up 8% of services and 9% of enrolments.
This equates to 335 services and 18,412 enrolments.

More information about the decision not to progress the proposed review of home-based ECE can be found on the Ministry’s ECE Lead website www.lead.ece.govt.nz

ENDS

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