NZEI Te Riu Roa NZARE Early Childhood workshop: Visions for Change

 

Mehemea ka moemoeā ahau, ko ahau anake 

Mehemea ka moemoeā tātou, ka taea e tātou 

If I dream alone, only I benefit 

If we all dream together, we can all succeed together 
- Te Puea Hērangi 

 

 NZEI Te Riu Roa invites you to a workshop on the morning 24th of November (before the NZARE ECE SIG day) on current issues facing the ECE sector.

We will be joined by dedicated ECE kaiako and activists for quality ECE, alongside representatives from the New Zealand Labour Party, The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, and Te Pāti Māori.

The ECE sector in Aotearoa is currently going through an unprecedented sequence of change. While in recent years, much of that change has been for the better, it now appears that things are shifting for the worse.   

After decades of advocacy by dedicated kaiako and kaimahi, the sector has largely achieved pay parity with the compulsory schooling sector. Te Whāriki remains one of the most progressive early learning curricula in the world. Network management was the first step in turning the tide on profit driven provision, and the Early Learning Action Plan: He taonga te tamaiti, Every child a taonga – though slowly moving – had improvements to ratios in its sights.  

The aggressive deregulation and privatisation agenda of the National-led coalition government puts this all at risk. One of their first moves was to scrap Fair Pay Agreement legislation which would have given ECE kaiako and kaimahi a mechanism to negotiate sector wide pay and conditions. They are in the process of a regulatory review within which the deregulation of health and safety requirements seems to be baked in. The Associate Minister of Education with responsibility for ECE openly expresses his disdain for pay parity at the same time as dutifully using his power to fulfil the wishlists of providers only in it for the money.  

Unless we act boldly and together, this assault on quality ECE could quickly sweep away years of progress. Those with an interest in the sector – whānau, kaiako, kaimahi, progressive politicians, and researchers – need to join together to coordinate a response.  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Kirsty McCully,
Early Childhood Strategic Lead for NZEI Te Riu Roa, at: [email protected]  

We look forward to seeing you there!