The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’.

“This Government has prioritised profits over our whenua, over our moana, and now looks set to sell out on our tamariki,” says the Green Party spokesperson for Māori Education and Early Childhood Education Benjamin Doyle.

“Every child in Aotearoa deserves an education that sets them up for success. That demands an ECE system that places tamariki at its core.

“Private profit and greed have no place in the education system. The Government’s proposed changes remove obligations to honour te Tiriti o Waitangi and mana whenua status of tangata whenua, undermine qualification requirements for teachers, and reduce protections for teachers who educate our rangatira mō āpōpō, our future leaders.

“Every decision we make must be for the tamariki that we saw today on the steps of Parliament calling for these proposed changes to be scrapped.

“Tiakina te rito o te harakeke. We need to put our tamariki and mokopuna back at the heart of decisions about education,” said Benjamin Doyle.

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