Minister's Announcement Welcomed by Home Based ECEA

The New Zealand Home Based Early Childhood Education Association has welcomed the announcement by Education Minister Hekia Parata to carry out a review of early childhood education.

The review will seek to ensure that home-based early childhood education (ECE) aligns with the Government’s broader goals and priorities for ECE. If not, changes in regulations, licensing practices and funding may be required.

“Home-based ECE is the most rapidly growing part of the ECE sector and has a high proportion of enrolments of children aged less than two years,’’ says Ms Parata.

“It has an important role to play in the Government’s priority for all children in New Zealand to have access to high quality early childhood education before starting school.’’

The review is in response to recommendations made in reports by the ECE Taskforce and two Sector Advisory Groups which were established to focus on improving the quality of ECE services. Their reports found that a review of home-based services has the potential to raise overall quality and improve the accountability of home-based networks.

The New Zealand Home-Based Early Childhood Education Association’s president, Carol Stovold, told the weekend’s annual conference in Rotorua that the review has created a major opportunity for the sector to gain greater recognition for the work of its members.

“We congratulate the Minister on picking up on the Early Childhood Education Association’s advisory group recommendations.

“We see this review as an enormous opportunity to have a greater focus on Early Childhood Education and is a great chance for the home base sector to be able to showcase the learning and innovative practices that take place in the area which contribute to life-long learning for children.

“Our association looks forward to the opportunity to contribute to this consultation process and to share the knowledge and skills that reside within our national body in representing those people that work within the sector.

“We welcome the chance to work with the Minister Of Education and her officials to align our sector with Government objectives,” Ms Stovold said.

For further information contact Carol Stovold (021) 279 0952