14 December 2012 Media Statement

Minister welcomes tenders for mobile early learning outreach service

Tenders are now open for the Pacific Early Learning Mobile Outreach Service says Pacific Island Affairs Minister Hekia Parata.

“The Ministries of Pacific Island Affairs and Education have worked together to establish a Pacific Mobile Early Childhood Education (ECE) service which will promote the value of ECE to Pacific parents in targeted areas and at community events,” says Ms Parata.

“This is one of the innovative measures the Ministries have developed to increase Pacific ECE participation rates in the Auckland area.
Currently, 86.2 per cent of Pacific children attend an ECE service. The Government wants to raise participation to 98 per cent in 2016. The Pacific Early Learning Mobile Outreach Service aims to assist in the enrolment of non-participating Pacific children into ECE each year.

“We know that quality ECE gives our children the best start in education but too many Pacific children are missing out. The Pacific Early Learning Mobile Outreach Service will give parents a taste of an ECE service and encourage more children and their families to participate,” Ms Parata says.

For more information or if you are interested in submitting a proposal, visit the Government Electronic Tenders Service website at: www.gets.govt.nz .
The deadline for submitting a tender is 12pm, Wednesday 9 January 2013.

ends

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>