Early childhood cuts reversal bid

A Dunedin early childhood education centre will be one of about a dozen nationwide to host the launch of a petition on Tuesday calling on the Government to reverse cuts to funding and commit to more investment in early childhood education.

A $285 million funding cut was announced in last year's Budget for early childhood education centres, and is due to take effect on February 1.

The cuts significantly reduce funding for about 2000 early childhood centres and services around New Zealand which have 80% or more fully qualified staff. Ultimately, it was expected to affect 93,000 children.

New Zealand Educational Institute early childhood caucus Otago representative Julia Sullivan said the cuts meant the majority of services would have to put up their fees, while others would be forced to consider losing or reducing their numbers of qualified staff.

"Our children are the ones who are going to be hurt most."

To mark the day, NZEI will launch a nationwide petition at the Dunedin Hospital Early Childhood Centre, as well as other centres around the country, as part of a national day of action.

Parents, children and staff from other centres and kindergartens around Otago are invited to attend the Dunedin launch, she said.

As part of the launch, everyone would be wearing green, and a song written by Otago Polytechnic Childcare Centre teacher Rachel Kaspers would be sung around the country, in protest at the funding cuts.

The petition will call for the cuts to be reversed and for the Government to commit to investing 1% of GDP on early childhood education as recommended by Unicef.

Evidence showed investment in the early years was the most important but, at present, New Zealand spent less than the OECD average on early childhood education, Mrs Sullivan said.

The issue would affect thousands of families in communities throughout the country, and it was important for them to show their support for the petition, she said.