[ad_1]
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said a significant gap had accumulated over time between ECE teachers and other teachers in schools and kindergartens and that the government wanted to change that, particularly given the risks they face in a COVID-19 world.
“As we respond to the impact of COVID-19 on our society and economy, the Government remains committed to fair remuneration for lower-wage workers, especially workers who have helped the country move again.”
He said the increased funding “goes some way” toward leveling the playing field for ECE centers seeking to employ qualified teachers. But he said he acknowledges that “closing the gap” between education and care services and kindergartens “will be a challenge that will be addressed in various Budgets.”
The total investment of $ 320 million will also cover a 1.6 percent increase in subsidy rates for education and care services beginning in January of next year, to help meet cost pressures over the past year, which it will raise the combined subsidy increase to 3.9 percent.
That adjustment will cost $ 122.7 million in operating funds over four years.
Additional funding of $ 36.2 million over four years will go to support early learning services at home to help them transition to a “more professional workforce.”
“Early childhood education has been the fastest growing part of the early learning sector,” said Hipkins. “In the future, at least 80 percent of the home educator workforce will have a required qualification, to ensure better and more consistent quality.”
On top of that, additional funds of $ 3.1 million will be needed over four years to go to play centers, estimated to support more than 400 of them providing a “one-off early learning option” for about 9,500 children and your families.
Finally, the total $ 320 million covers $ 7.8 million for the Early Childhood Education Provider Evaluation Group of the Ministry of Education that works to ensure that early childhood education services meet quality and safety standards.
Hipkins said the majority of children involved in early learning attend an education and care service, with 135,237 children, about 68 percent, attending one in 2019.
“Our $ 320.8 million investment in early learning in this year’s Budget supports the transition to higher quality early learning that prioritizes the learning, well-being, and identity of every child.”
Critics have said the government has focused too much on paying primary and secondary teachers to realize what is happening in early child care.
The government increased the salaries of secondary and primary teachers. For example, Q1E entry point teachers with a Teaching Diploma currently earn $ 48,410, which will rise again in July to $ 49,862 and will rise again the following year to $ 51,358.
But getting there was not easy, as up to 50,000 primary and secondary teachers protested their pay in May 2019, considered the largest industrial action New Zealand has ever seen.
