The Government's review of Early Childhood Education funding, announced today, is a clear and appalling reflection of its priorities, with a ministerial group being directed to balance "quality and affordability for services".
"This is a false and harmful tradeoff that should never be on the table when envisioning a future for our youngest learners," says the Green Party's ECE Spokesperson, 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.
"Instead of investing into our children's critical early years, the Government continues to prop up a profit-driven system that relies on overcharging parents, underpaying kaiako and, as a result, short-changing our tamariki.
"In our Green Budget, we've shown the solution is already right in front of us: remove the corporate for-profit sector, and make high-quality ECE free and accessible for all.
"Kaiako and whānau have been crying out for the Government to put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE.
"The Government has really shown their cards today. More resources directed away from solutions we already have, and another ministerial group packed with people invested in preserving a for-profit system. Our tamariki deserve so much better.
"Private profit and greed have no place in the education system. It's time to remove the profit motive from ECE and turn it into a genuinely child-centered, public good service," says Benjamin Doyle.
