The inequity with which our Government treats our little ones defies all reasonable logic.
On one hand the Prime Minister and Government under urgency and without the scrutiny of normal select committee processes forces through legislation to protect hobbits, imaginary beings similar to a person but only smaller and with hairy feet.
On the other hand, in May's Budget the same Government announced that New Zealand's little ones - real beings and real people with non-hairy little feet - would have their early childhood education funding entitlement cut.
Have I missed something here, or is it that the Government knows the price of a hobbit but not the value of a child?
How is it that an industry dealing in fictional characters takes precedence over the lives of our children?
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a grouch, I really enjoy a good movie and I am all for promoting and developing New Zealand's film industry.
However, the irony of the situation has not escaped me.
How is it that a Government which campaigned and was elected on the platform of its 2008 early childhood care and education policy of valuing families, higher standards in education and building opportunity for all now advocates such a radical departure from that policy?
From February next year more than 2000 early childhood centres New Zealand-wide will have a lower funding rate, a budget measure expected to save $280 million-$295 million over the next four years.
The measures clearly contradict National's stated policy and the reality is that very young children will suffer as early childhood education becomes an option rather than a priority.
All parents want the best for their children, but now "the best" may now be determined by what parents can afford to pay rather than by access as of right.
The rhetoric and the reality between what the National Government and Minister of Education Anne Tolley promised and what is now proposed is symptomatic of overpromising and under-delivering, or is it just hard core electioneering at any cost?
By any process of review that the Government subjects its own educational institutions to, they would be perceived as having fallen well short of stated intentions, having failed their national standard and, therefore subject to additional review measures.
When questioned about her decisions relating to early childhood education funding, Mrs Tolley commented that we "had to do something" and that we have a "very difficult economic situation".
Try telling that to parents who are working hard and cannot understand why the Government is making it more expensive for early childhood education.
I forgot about the tax cuts? Well, the reality is that most parents are not receiving generous tax cuts and will likely struggle to afford to keep children in early childhood education.
Try telling the children, the parents and the early childhood teachers that while fictional hobbits and multi-national company Warner Brothers are able to secure meetings with the Prime Minister, gain million-dollar tax breaks and make changes to New Zealand employment law, that our own very real little children are not important enough to warrant similar attention.
The contrary is evident as "fee increases, staffing changes, longer hours, and revenue building are on the minds of early childhood providers and parents as funding cuts to the sector begin to hit home" (ODT 2.11.10)
Mrs Tolley advocates funding for 80% of an early childhood centre's staff being fully qualified, rather than 100% on the basis that there is no evidence to support it?
Surely common sense suggests that investing in a fully qualified workforce pays real dividends.
When I had a wisdom tooth extracted under general anaesthetic I was reassured to know that my dentist, anaesthetist and nurse were 100% qualified, not 80%.
Also on a recent airline trip to Sydney I had an overwhelming sense of security in knowing that the pilot, co-pilot and aircrew were 100% qualified.
Why should parents expect only 80% of early childhood teachers to be qualified particularly when the Government has clearly stated that "National will support parents by improving the choice and quality of early childhood care and education and those preschoolers need to get the best start in life"?
In many ways, the funding cuts to early childhood education are symptomatic of the Government's overall view of the education sector.
The school sector has taken a hit in terms of overall support.
Clearly, however, there is enough money for National Standards that schools do not want or need - and that boards of trustees are now boycotting.
The tertiary education sector has also suffered with funding cuts.
Compare this with our neighbours across the ditch where the recently elected Gillard-led Government has confirmed an additional $A5.2 billion for future "education growth, quality and access".
Yes, I agree, comparisons are not fair and do not portray the real picture; however, when Prime Minister John Key is on record as wanting to close the wage gap between Australia and New Zealand then one questions how cutting the funding for early childhood education will achieve this.
Early childhood educators lay the foundations for the future and prepare children for school readiness.
Funding cuts will disadvantage the sector and compromise education.
Mrs Tolley recently announced a task force will review the effectiveness of early childhood education spending.
"It is vital this money is well spent to ensure the greatest number of children gain access to early childhood education and fully benefit from it," she said.
The task force is due to report back in March 2011 and will review the Government's investment in early childhood education, look at efficiencies and cost effective ways to support children's learning in early childhood and make recommendations about funding and policy.
It is to be sincerely hoped that the review panel recommends to the Education Minister not to sell our children's future for pieces of silver screen, and that Government's cuts to the early childhood education sector are penny wise and pound foolish.
Dr Darrell Latham is a senior lecturer and manager of professional education services at the University of Otago College of Education.
