The school staff vaccine mandate has teachers across the region unable to come to work, but Dunedin’s kindergartens have barely been affected.
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From Tuesday this week, all education staff need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter school grounds and have contact with children and pupils.
Earlier this week RNZ reported that a recent Early Childhood Council survey showed the mandate would lead to nearly half its members losing one teacher, and more than a third would lose up to two teachers.
The council said 370 of its members responded to a survey.
However, kindergartens around Dunedin are seeing a much higher compliance rate.
Dunedin Kindergarten Association general manager Christine Kerr said out of about 170 staff across its 24 kindergartens, only one support worker and two teachers had refused to get the vaccine so far.
It was working through a process with those staff.
The message put out by the Ministry of Education had been clear and the mandate process had been straightforward, she said.
None of the association’s staff had medical exemptions.
It was always sad to lose good staff, but it was ultimately their decision and she respected that.
‘‘The ministry have been pretty clear about their expectations and our prime focus is the children,’’ she said.
There were only minor issues caused by the mandate, such as young children no longer being able to see the teachers they had grown attached to.
‘‘There is no major disruption to us at all.’’
Pioneers director Penelope Pask was unable to comment on the state of the four Pioneers child care centres in Dunedin.
