Parents, whānau and NZEI Te Riu Roa members are deeply concerned about the underfunding in our education system where tamariki are missing out on accessing the support they need and where parents are forced to pay for teacher aide hours out of their own pockets. No parent should need to choose between breaking the law or watching their child miss out on the support they need. Parents should not have to pay at all. In a properly funded public system, every child should get the support they need. All tamariki are taonga. This campaign is about challenging ableism at all levels, so that the education system works for all. We've drafted an email for you (on the right) to send to Minister Hipkins. Personalise it with your own story for the Minister to read.

Ratios in Aotearoa’s early childhood education system are not fit for purpose. Currently they sit at 1:5 for under 2’s and 1:10 for 2-year-olds and over. These are unmanageably high ratios which make it extremely difficult for ECE kaiako and kaimahi to provide the high-quality education they would like to. To ensure the best learning for the tamariki, most centres staff above ratio. However, this has implications for funding, including on a centre’s ability to pay support staff, and often results in costs being passed onto whānau. If we improve ECE ratios we will be well on the way to solving the issues of funding, workload, learning support for ākonga and the wellbeing of kaiako and kaimahi.