[Music]

Kia ora and thank you for taking the time to hear about the work we've been doing reviewing the Early Childhood Education funding system.

Over the past year, the MAG has been listening to families, to teachers and educators, to providers, and to others with an interest in the ECE system. We've undertaken research. We've analysed data and we've commissioned other work to help us understand how well the current funding system is working and where improvements could be made.

We've identified three major problems with the current funding system.

Firstly, families can't always get the amount and type of ECE they want for their tamariki.

Secondly, variation in the quality of ECE means it may not deliver all the benefits it can for children and whānau, particularly those who could benefit the most.

And thirdly, there isn't enough information about how money spent in ECE is used or the value delivered by government funding.

We have identified seven areas where we think change could make a difference. The consultation document sets out a range of possible options alongside the option of not making any change.

Importantly, we haven't made any decisions or recommendations. Firstly, we want to hear from you.

What do you think might work well?
What concerns do you have?
And what impacts do you think possible changes could have?

Before we provide our final advice to government later this year, we want to hear from you—parents, providers, the ECE workforce, employers of parents, communities, and anyone else who cares about ECE or has an interest in it.

Your feedback will help shape our thinking and inform our advice.

Here's how you can find out more about our work, areas and options for possible change, and how you can provide feedback.

Thank you for taking the time to think about the future of ECE funding. We look forward to hearing your views.

[Music]

 

I’m Sarah Hogan, a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group that’s been asked to provide advice to government on the way ECE funding is used.

As an economist, I know that ECE helps to lay an important foundation in children’s lives, helping them to be healthy, happy, and productive throughout their lifetimes. It also supports parents to be able to get to work and earn the income that families need to thrive.

Along with the other members of the MAG, I’ve heard from many people who care for children and for communities. We’ve commissioned research and we’ve done our own work to understand what changes could help improve the ECE funding system.

We’ve identified three major problems.

Families cannot always get the amount and type of ECE they want for their tamariki.

Variation in the quality of ECE means it may not deliver all the benefits it can for children and whānau, particularly those who could benefit most. There also isn’t enough information about how money spent in ECE is used or the value delivered by government funding.

We’ve also identified seven areas where change could make a difference. This doesn’t mean we’re going to recommend change in all these areas. Your feedback will help us to finalise our thinking.

We want families and communities to know that if these changes were confirmed, it could make a difference to you and your tamariki. For example, more funding assistance could be made available to those families with greatest need.

We’re also looking at ways to make ECE more available to all whānau, including looking at the hours of ECE for which funding assistance is provided.

But before we provide our advice, we want to hear from you about what’s important. Have we got the areas for change right? What would these options mean for your whānau? What have we missed?

Your feedback will help shape what happens next.

You don’t have to give us feedback on everything in the consultation document unless you want to. You can focus on what matters most to you and anything you think we should know.

Thank you for being here. Please do tell us what you think.

 

Kia ora and thank you for taking the time to join me. I'm Linda Meade, chair of the Ministerial Advisory Group for the review of the early childhood education funding system.

Some of you may know me through my involvement in the ECE sector over many years. That experience has shown me the enormous value of ECE to tamariki and whānau, but also some of the challenges faced by providers and those who work in the ECE sector.

Over the past year, the MAG has met with and talked to many people from across the sector. We've reviewed research, analysed data, and commissioned other work to help us understand where the challenges are in the current system and where improvements could be made.

Through that work, we have identified three major problems. Firstly, families cannot always get the amount and type of ECE they want for their tamariki. Secondly, variation in the quality of ECE means it may not deliver all the benefits it can for children and whānau, particularly those who could benefit most. And thirdly, there isn't enough information about how money spent in ECE is used or the value delivered by government funding.

We have identified seven areas where potential changes to funding settings could make a difference. Within each area, we've described a range of possible options. It would also be possible to retain current settings. Importantly, we have not reached any conclusions on recommendations.

As we all know, ours is a diverse and complex sector. What works well for one service, community, or provider type may not work well for another. That's why we need your help. We want to understand what the options we describe might mean in practice.

Which ideas would you support, and which raise concerns? Are there unintended consequences we should be thinking about? Are there opportunities or risks we have overlooked? No matter what role you're in, your experience and insights are valuable.

Your feedback will help inform advice we give to government later this year.

Here’s how you can access more information. Thank you for your time, your commitment to early learning, and your willingness to contribute to this important conversation.