On March 18, a major collective of early childhood education (ECE) community-based, not-for-profit providers submitted a unified proposal to renew Aotearoa's ECE funding system. It warns that while the current system is not "totally broken," it is bogged down by frustrating rules and inadequate funding that add unnecessary complexity.

The group includes representatives from Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand, Sosaiete Ā’oga Amata Samoa Aotearoa Incorporated, Ngā Puna Reo o Aotearoa, Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa | Playcentre Aotearoa, Barnardos Aotearoa, NZEI Te Riu Roa and kindergarten associations.

The submission is a direct response to the government’s ECE Funding Review Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG), chaired by Linda Meade. The MAG has been tasked by the government to provide advice on four overlapping issues: affordability and access, universal versus targeted funding, system complexity, and the impact of ECE provision.

To this list, the collective has explicitly added a fifth, crucial issue: accountability for the receipt and use of public funds.

With over $3.1 billion of public funding invested into ECE annually, alongside an estimated $600 million or more contributed by parents, all public funds must be strictly directed toward the provision of high-quality services.

The collective firmly believes that ECE should be treated as a "public good" in the exact same way that primary schooling is.

Community-based, not-for-profit services, that uphold the mana of our tamariki, and ensure the system remains deeply anchored in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, should be protected.

To ensure high-quality services that are affordable and accessible to all families, and to achieve an equitable and simplified system, the collective proposes a range of solutions including:

• Cap parent fees at a set dollar amount or as a percentage of family income
  
• Legislated entitlement to high-quality ECE that becomes available from the completion of paid parental leave
  
• Funding up to 30 hours of "free ECE" for all children, regardless of their age
  
• Remove the FamilyBoost scheme. These funds should instead be directly incorporated into service funding rates to strengthen supply-side funding
  
• Centralise teacher payroll to reduce complexity
  
• A simplified funding model where staffing costs are separated and held centrally
  
• Centrally negotiate a national collective agreement for ECE teachers and add them directly to the Ministry of Education's centralised payroll system
  
• Enforce strict accountability: all services should meet the exact same government reporting requirements
  
• Ministry of Education to gather and publicise yearly data on ECE fees, and require staff and parent/caregiver representatives to sit on service decision-making bodies
  

Paying for ECE is a public investment worth making. By tagging funds for specific purposes, the government can remove administrative complexity and the need for funding "flexibility," keeping the focus exactly where it belongs: on our tamariki.

Read the full summary of the collective’s proposed solutions here.

Read the Ministerial Advisory group’s report on the discovery phase and summary of engagement