Among the highlights in yesterday’s Budget 2023, the Government said extending 20 hours of free ECE to 2-year-olds could save parents up to $133.20 a week.
There were a raft of other measures announced alongside it, including continuing pay parity for ECE teachers, a 5.3% increase in funding for ECE centres, continuing free school lunches and adding 300 more classrooms.
Mighty Minds Montessori licensee Mary Wijesinghe said increasing access to ECE for 2-year-olds was particularly significant.
She felt many parents with young children were struggling.
At her Mornington centre at least one parent had made the decision to not return to work because she would ultimately be earning less once ECE costs for their 2-year-old were factored in, Mrs Wijesinghe said.
Mrs Wijesinghe normally required parents to sign up for at least 30 hours, in order to be financially viable and pay her teachers.
But for 2-year-olds, she gave parents the option to "sign up for whatever they can afford to" until their children became 3 years old.
"I have given that option because I understand parents."
She was licensed for 24 children aged 2 to 6 years old and at present seven children at the centre were 2 years old, she said.
New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI) Dunedin representative Paula Reynolds said the announcement would allow "a lot" more families access to early childhood education.
"When we think about early education as the foundation for children’s learning... it’s such a great investment," Mrs Reynolds said. "Extending it will ease the burden on costs for families.
Pay parity with their counterparts in kindergartens was significant for early childhood education teachers too, but it was announced two budgets ago, she said.
ECE providers had struggled to meet wage costs and yesterday’s announcement represented a welcome further investment towards the goal of pay parity, Mrs reynolds said.
"The kicker here is ... it’s still an opt-in service.
"The employer has the right to opt in to pay parity, or not.
"But across Otago, a lot of our local community-based services have opted in, to extended pay parity, and are wearing the cost of that.
"It was a bit of a balancing act, but this further investment is again going to ease those costs.
"It still doesn’t come anywhere near fully funding what the pay parity rate should be for teachers," she said.
Mrs Reynolds said it would take further significant investment, in the next budget, to ensure all services were able to afford pay a pay parity rate
"It’s certainly a win, it’s certainly something to celebrate, and we look forward to further investment," she said.
