Early childhood education

Education Minister Anne Tolley has been reassuring the early childhood education sector on the future of its services, as consultation on an independent task force's report comes to a close.

The Central Otago Kindergarten Association is meeting a shortfall in funding so work can begin immediately on the new Maniototo Kindergarten.

An 11.7% increase in the cost of early childhood education has put increased pressure on the family budget.

Playcentres must not be left to wither through lack of support, educationalist Bruce McMillan says.

The message of playcentre being a high-quality education option for parents, which was worthy of community and Government support, rang loud and clear through the Octagon, Dunedin, yesterday.

Pupils at Wakatipu Kindergarten let their hands do the talking on Thursday, with green paint used to put their handprints on pieces of paper, protesting proposed cuts to early childhood funding.

Regardless of Michael Woodhouse's claims about the increase in spending on Early Childhood Education nation-wide (ODT 7/2/2011), the experience of many early childhood centres in Dunedin is a decrease in the amount of funding received, resulting in raised fees for parents, staff let go, and more work for teachers.

David Clark argues that the Government's early education cuts will hit Dunedin families and children especially hard.

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.

The Dunedin Kindergarten Association is putting building projects on hold, as government funding to the organisation is expected to drop by $1.2 million next year.