Deregulation proposals by for-profit ECE employer group shows total disregard for early childhood teachers

NZEI Te Riu Roa, the union for early childhood teachers and staff, is appalled by the latest proposals put forth by the Early Childhood Council (ECC) which seek to undermine the status and employment conditions of qualified early childhood teachers and the provision of quality early childhood education for children. The ECC represents mainly the interests of private sector, for-profit early childhood education employers.

The proposals include cutting pay parity for all early childhood teachers, reducing the number of qualified teachers outside of government subsidised hours, and removing kindergarten from the state sector. It also deems mandated minimum teacher-child ratios "ineffective".

NZEI Te Riu Roa National Executive representative Virginia Oakly says the council's recommendations are alarming, especially in a political environment that has seen the Government already cut pay parity for early childhood teachers who are relieving or on fixed-term contracts.

"The council's proposals show a total devaluation of and disregard for the professional early childhood teaching workforce and the highly specialised work they do with our youngest ākonga. The Government's regulatory review and agenda to cut 'red tape’ are already having disastrous consequences – relievers and fixed-term employees could potentially find themselves on minimum wage now pay parity for these groups is gone.

"For the Early Childhood Council to propose removing pay parity altogether is unthinkable. We are already hearing from ECE employers who are horrified at the position the council is taking. The principle that early childhood teachers should be paid at the same pay rates as all other teaching professionals is commonsense. Removing the pay steps that recognise and reward teachers’ experience and qualifications to effectively let the market decide their pay rate will only worsen the deep crisis we're in and open the door to creating a qualified teaching workforce paid at minimum wage.

"We need and have repeatedly asked for a better funding model and administrative systems for pay parity, but the answer is not to remove the pay parity scheme."

In response to the council's proposal to reduce the number of qualified teachers, Oakly says the research is clear that it is the ratio of skilled, trained qualified teachers to children — not just adults — that ensures quality.

"Fixing teacher to child ratios is the regulatory reform that is most needed and wanted across the sector. The way to address compliance issues is not to remove or reduce requirements; it's to fix the drivers of the issues faced by kaiako and kaimahi daily in the interests of delivering the best possible educational outcomes to tamariki."

Calls to remove kindergartens from the state sector are a huge red flag to anyone paying attention to the wide-reaching ideological reforms being made in education at the moment, Oakly says.

"Such reforms are purely in the interests of corporations and will not do anything to support the best education for children."