A Dunedin early childhood teacher says conditions in the sector are leading to teachers burning out.
New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI) said there was much to fix in the system, including the legally allowed teacher-child ratios, a lack of funding and the constant undervaluing of teachers.
An early childhood centre could have up to five children younger than 2 years old per teacher, and 10 children more than 2 years old per teacher.
Early childhood teacher Geena Fagan, of Dunedin, said that at present the system was failing New Zealanders.
"I have worked in centres where one to five [teacher to under-2 ratio] is the norm and it’s a lot — I mean teachers are burning out.
"There’s just not enough time in the day, there’s not a lot of hands on board and you know for children that are under 5 it’s the most important time of their life for developing who they are and for their learning."
It was a daily struggle and the teacher-child ratios created a stressful environment that was not good for the children.
Also, the present ratios enabled private centres to make a profit, she said.
"There are so many centres, in Dunedin especially, that are privately owned where the owners operate the centres in a way that allows them to make profit off our children — and that’s crazy.
"Our children are not business models and that there even is a possibility where people can profit off them, it’s terrifying and that’s exactly what’s happening."
NZEI Otago Southland lead organiser Paula Reynolds said regulations introduced by the John Key National government made it easy for private centres to operate because they made it so only 50% of their teachers had to be trained and registered.
Although centres received more funding if they had a higher percentage of trained teachers, hiring untrained teachers was still much cheaper, she said.
This also meant the previous Labour government’s work to support the sector to get 100% registered teachers was undermined and the sector became underfunded, she said.
Prof Alex Gunn, of the University of Otago College of Education, said research from New Zealand and overseas showed when services were staffed by qualified teachers the quality of education and care was higher.
"When teachers are also registered and certificated, it ensures that their practice is consistent with what’s expected of a New Zealand teacher working in early childhood education."
