“One of the most important aspects of Early Childhood Education (ECE) is the ‘quality-time’ a child spends with their teacher, so it was heartening to see that the Education Ministry’s recent report on the Early Learning Action Plan show centres are working above the minimum adult:child ratios and prioritising quality education,” says Kelly Seaburg, Director of New Shoots Children’s Centre and Advocates for Early Learning Excellence.

The Early learning Action Plan was created in partnership with the ECE sector and launched in 2018. For the first time the Ministry has reported on adult:child ratios in the sector while using an evaluation framework that tracks progress towards the three goals of Raising Quality, Improving Equity and Enabling parental choice.

The average ratio in 2023 was:

Children aged 0-24 months: 1 : 4.05 (the ratio is 1:5)

(1 : 4.02 for Education and care centres; 1 : 4.49 for Kindergartens)[1]

Children aged 24-36 months: 1 : 5.28 (the ratio is 1:10)[2]

(1 : 5.17 for Education and care centres; 1 : 5.73 for Kindergartens)

Children aged 36-72 months: 1 : 6.24 (the ratio is 1:10)[3]

(1 : 6.08 for Education and care centres; 1 : 6.87 for Kindergartens

“It is heartening to see indisputable evidence that ECE services across New Zealand are prioritising and committing to adult:child ratios to support children’s safety, wellbeing and education. Parents should feel encouraged by these statistics. Services have exceeded the minimum ratios and haven’t required regulations to attain more aspirational goals,” says Mrs Seaburg.

Kathy Wolfe, CE of Te Rito Maioha agrees. “This is fantastic news to see that services are focusing on providing that quality time for our tamariki. The sector understands that ratios are an incredibly important aspect of the provision of early childhood education, which is why Te Rito Maioha and Childspace put together a petition calling for funding of better adult to child ratios.”

“Currently the government funds the number of teachers per children at a ratio set in the 1960s,” says Toni Christie the Director of Childspace Early Childhood Institute.

“Those outdated ratios need to change, but to see providers recognising and prioritising quality education is very pleasing despite the financial pressures the sector is under, and demonstrates the sector’s priorities and commitment to quality,” says Mrs Christie.

Lower ratios are widely accepted by educators, ECE providers and the Ministry of Education, as being beneficial for children because:

• Lower ratios ensure that teachers are able to focus on a child when they require attention eg when they are upset, hurt or need changing.
• Lower ratios support child-staff relationships and allow staff to focus more on the needs of the individual child.
• Lower ratios reduce the amount of unsupervised time that occurs when needing to deal with disruptions such as changing nappies and clothes, accidents etc.
• Research suggests that the quality of interactions between adults and children play a highly important role in stimulating early learning. In high quality interactions, adults are genuinely interested in what the child is doing.
• A higher number of children to teachers can make teaching more about managing the environment, routines and undertaking safety checks, rather than having the time and space to spend time with a child helping them to learn. Higher numbers of children increase noise levels, can lead to higher temperatures and overcrowding.
• A higher number of children creates significant stress on kaiako (teachers), and are a factor in burnout, staff retention, and are off putting for job applicants. There is a significant shortage of ECE teachers and better conditions are required to encourage people to train and reduce health and safety concerns.

“It’s great to see these proactive steps,” says Mrs Seaburg, “but the delivering lower children to teacher ratios flows through to upward pressure on parent fees.”

“Our politicians need to recognise that funding an official lower ratio will ensure an improved minimum standard for services, while rewarding those centres that are already investing in our tamariki,” says Kathy Wolfe. “Services shouldn’t have to choose to pay their teachers what they’re worth and maintaining acceptable ratios. They should be able to do both.”

[1] The number of kindergartens that are licensed for children aged up to 2 is small, compared to the other service types.

[2] The required number of teachers for the first 6 children is 1, then for up to 20 children is 2. Thereafter the ratio is 1:10.

[3] The required number of teachers for the first 6 children is 1, then for up to 20 children is 2. Thereafter the ratio is 1:10.

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