Review of Targeted Programmes - Promoting Participation Project
As a result of the government review of targeted programmes, all new promoting participation projects contracts will focus on all non participating families regardless of ethnicity.
Ethnically targeted reviews
Government has reviewed its ethnically targeted policies and programmes to ensure they and the government resources that go with them, are allocated according to need. The review considered whether ethnic targeting actually targets the need for the programme.
Review outcomes ensure:
targeting is appropriate, and those who most need support are receiving it
where targeting by ethnicity is appropriate, the review will continue to focus on the actual policy or programme to maximise its effectiveness
Background to the ethnically targeted reviews:
Promoting Participation in Early Childhood Education as an ethnically targeted programme
The Promoting Participation Programme is ethnically targeted because it was set up to reduce disparities in early childhood education participation for Māori and Pasifika children. Children other than Māori and Pasifika have also been included in the programme because they have been identified as not participating in early childhood education.
The review considered the appropriateness of ethnic targeting for this programme, whether it is effective and whether there are other children who need support for early childhood education participation and are not able to currently access it through the Promoting Participation Programme.
Recommendations of the review
The Promoting Participation Project will now target communities with low early childhood education participation regardless of ethnicity. Low participation will be measured by information on 5 year-olds' previous participation.
Māori and Pasifika communities are over-represented in communities of low early childhood education participation, and are likely to continue to receive support through the project.
The Promoting Participation Project is currently being evaluated to find out what is working well and what could be strengthened. This evaluation will lead to a review of the programme's effectiveness in late 2006.
Effect on current and future contracts
There is no impact on current Promoting Participation Programme contracts. Most current contracts finish in December 2005.
The Ministry of Education will now run a request for proposals process to identify new Promoting Participation Project providers for the communities targeted under the new criteria. Providers will be selected for their ability to be effective in the targeted communities of low participation.
Details of the new targeted communities and the request for proposals process will be available from August 2005 on the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS) website. If you plan to tender you should register now with GETS at www.gets.govt.nz.