Media Release – New Zealand Playcentre Federation

10 November 2008

Playcentre congratulates National on their election win

The New Zealand Playcentre Federation congratulates the National Party on its win in the general election this weekend.

Playcentre now looks forward to working constructively with the new government to strengthen the provision of education services for New Zealand pre-schoolers and their families.

“National has recognised the importance of parents as first teachers of their children by saying they will include Playcentre in their 20 hours ECE policy”, said Playcentre President, Marion Pilkington.

“We appreciate the fact that National is committed to supporting the high quality education which Playcentre provides for over 15,000 children and their families in nearly 500 centres nationwide.

Recent research conducted by the Playcentre Federation showed that, while parent volunteers were very happy to work with children on session in their Playcentres, the amount of volunteer time required for management, maintenance and fund-raising was exhausting. This red-tape and compliance was taking an average of 2000 volunteer hours per centre outside of session time each year. The report recommended that funding be increased to allow centres to pay for these non-teaching duties.

“Playcentre has been supporting families to educate their children for over 60 years, and we look forward to working with the new Minister, whoever that might be, to strengthen our provision for the next generation of New Zealand families,” said Mrs Pilkington.

ENDS

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