The Government's early childhood education strategy aims to improve quality and increase participation but will it, in reality, do the opposite?

According to a spokesman for around 800 education and care providers the strategy, contrary to its aims, will significantly increase costs and reduce access and choice to working parents.

Ross Penman, president of the Early Childhood Council, said the Government's new requirements for higher qualifications for staff and greater teacher/child ratios have immediate and obvious increased cost implications, yet relative funding from government has been reducing.

"We are seriously concerned that the proposals to increase qualifications levels and staff/child ratios will lead to even higher staff shortages without substantially increased operational grants and, as a result, we expect fees may have to increase by over $75 a week."

The strategy, Pathways to the Future: Nga Huarahi Arataki, was launched on 12 September and is a 10-year plan aimed at improving quality, increasing participation and promoting collaborative relationships. A funding review and a commitment to higher subsidies have been deferred and finalised funding strategies are not expected until 2005, Mr Penman said.

He said that although the strategy's aims appeared positive it was likely to have the opposite effect, as providers would have to raise fees to survive and many parents would not be able to afford them.

"Government has recently increased funding to a select group of providers that makes up only 20% of the early childhood sector — the Kindergarten associations — but not to the rest of us. We will have to raise fees as our staff demand pay in line with their kindergarten colleagues whose funding increases under the proposals will be about 50% more than the rest of the sector.

"Fees are already rising, and will continue to rise and accelerate to meet these demands and lots of families will be cut out,” he said. “You would think lower-income and working families would be the very families the Government should be interested in.

"We will also lose good staff because of dissatisfaction over pay. So not only will many parents not be able to afford us but the quality of the teachers we retain is in danger of dropping heavily."

Mr Penman said the Government's push for all early childhood staff to have the same high qualifications was another barrier to retaining good staff.

"A lot of our staff are really valuable as support staff — cooking, cleaning and changing nappies, supervision and activity set-up, for example — but under the strategy they will be required to have the same diploma or degree teacher qualifications instead of multi-level 'fit-for-purpose' qualifications to suit multi-level teams.

"It makes no sense at all and will drive good people out of the sector and push the fees parents pay up too high.

"The sector's problems will only get bigger and more public. Only an immediate commitment to funding parity for all providers will save it and improve staffing, quality and accessibility," Mr Penman said.

Act MP Donna Awatere-Huata said the strategy was a back-down from earlier extreme plans, but would still force up the costs of independent providers, putting early childhood education out of reach for those who need it most.

"This plan will hit poor areas where fees can't be put up a further cent. Maori participation rates are already way behind non-Maori. The removal of private providers will reduce choice and participation," Ms Awatere Huata said.

The New Zealand Educational Institute, the union that represents early childhood teachers, has welcomed the proposals. It said the plan was long overdue and a welcome rejection of the largely hands-off approach governments have taken in the last decade.

"It's an acknowledgement that early childhood education is far too important to leave to market forces," Institute president Amanda Coulston said.

But the union felt the plan did not go far enough.

"The union believes every child is entitled to free early childhood education. This could occur in stages by giving free education to three and four year olds first, then extending it to younger children," Ms Coulston said.

The early childhood strategy and documents relating to it can be accessed here at the Ministry of Education.

The ACT press release is at www.act.org.nz