Pathways to the Future: English plan and translations

This document sets out the Government's direction for early childhood education over the next 10-years. The version on this website is a text only (there are no graphs or pictures). The plan is available in English and Maori. Summaries of the Plan are available in English, Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands Maori, Tokelauan, Fijian, and Niuean. These are all available as PDF downloads at the end of this document. Hard copies can be requested by contacting us.

Section one: Acknowledging strengths, seeking opportunities

Why develop a strategic plan?

The government is committed to raising the level of educational achievement of all New Zealand children. As the foundation for ongoing learning, ECE is a critical first step. ECE also enriches the growth and development of children in the years before starting school. To fully realise the benefits of ECE it is vital that all those working within the ECE sector share a vision for effective early education. It is vital, too, that there is a clearly defined path that both the government and the sector can follow.

This strategic plan offers both the vision and the path by providing a policy framework, goals and strategies for early childhood education, whether centre-based or home-based. It recognises the value of licence-exempt groups and provides a genuine role for these groups within the sector.

It is informed by history in that it acknowledges the strengths of New Zealand's ECE sector and uses them as the basis for development. It is future focused in that it provides a reference point for how the sector will achieve improved quality, increased participation and reduced disparities over the next 10 years.

Long-lasting improvement is most readily achieved through a deliberate journey. Therefore, the plan's interconnecting strategies will be implemented in phases. Such a stepped approach ensures:

inherent tensions between improving quality and increasing participation are managed
the building blocks needed for success are in place before the strategies are introduced.

Surveying current ECE in New Zealand

The context

Children's growth and development are most rapid during their early years and young children learn in a range of settings. Parents are key in their children's development and most children experience much of their early learning within the home.

While New Zealand children are not required to participate in formal ECE, the majority does so at some stage before they begin school. The choice of ECE services is broad; this country has a strong ECE sector offering a diverse range of services to meet the education and care needs of most children, parents, families and whānau. In some ECE settings parents and whānau are directly responsible for the education and care of the children. In other settings paid staff are responsible. There are also home-based settings where paid staff are responsible for the education and care of the children within their own (or the children's) home.

A diverse sector

New Zealand enjoys a diverse range of education and care providers for young children. Some providers work with parents and whānau; others work directly with young children. The main providers are:

Education and care centres provide either sessional, all day, or flexible hours programmes for children from birth to school age. They may be privately owned, non-profit making, community-based services, or operated as an adjunct to the main purpose of a business or organisation (e.g. a crèche at a university or polytechnic). These centres include a small but increasing number of specific Māori immersion education and care centres, and Pacific Island Education and Care Centres.
Home-based services comprise a cluster (network) of home-based caregivers operating under the supervision of a coordinator. The coordinator places children with caregivers in approved homes for an agreed number of hours per week (e.g. Barnardos).
Kindergartens generally operate sessional early childhood education for children between the ages of three and five.
Kōhanga Reo provide programmes totally in Te Reo and Tikanga Māori for mokopuna and their whänau from birth to school age.
Licence-exempt playgroups are community-based groups of parents and children who meet for one to three sessions per week.
Parent support and development programmes aim to improve health, social and educational outcomes by helping to build parenting capability (e.g. PAFT, HIPPY).
Playcentres are collectively supervised and managed by parents for children up to the age of five.
The Correspondence School provides distance ECE for children aged between three and five who are unable to attend an ECE service because of isolation, illness or other special needs.

The opportunities

New Zealand parents generally have considerable choice for their children's early care and education. In providing integrated care and education under one curriculum (Te Whāriki), New Zealand is a world leader. However, we have opportunities where we can build on our strengths.

Improving ECE quality through increasing the numbers of qualified teachers. Many ECE teachers in New Zealand are not qualified, yet there is a strong correlation between quality ECE and teacher qualifications.
Increasing participation in quality ECE services amongst those groups currently missing out. Although New Zealand ECE participation rates are high, some children are still missing out, often because families are not well informed about the value of ECE to their children's development both in the present and in the future. The children primarily affected come from Māori, Pasifika, and low socio-economic backgrounds. A lack of access to appropriate ECE services is also proving a barrier to rural families and to around 15 percent of parents wanting employment [1]. The Government could increase participation for these groups by becoming more involved in facilitating access to quality ECE services.
Greater empowerment of parents and whānau to be involved in their children's early learning. There is a wide range of ECE and other education, health and social services for young children and their parents and whänau. The links between these services are not always strong. Promoting co-operation and collaboration between these services - both at the national and local levels - could improve outcomes for young children and parents, and provide better opportunities for parents and whänau to be more involved in their children's early learning.
Better government support to help the ECE sector achieve quality and participation objectives. The complexity of current regulatory and funding systems can have negative or unintended impacts on quality and participation. They can also create barriers to participation. A comprehensive review of funding and regulations should benefit both families and services as increased government support helps the ECE sector to meet quality and participation objectives.

Maori involvement and partnership

In recent years, many hui and discussions have explored ways in which Māori and the government could work together and Māori could have greater involvement in their children's education. Through the implementation of the strategic plan, the government is seeking to achieve three specific goals for Māori:

to enhance the relationship between the Crown and Māori
to improve the appropriateness and effectiveness of ECE services for Māori
to increase the participation of Māori children and their whänau.

The development in recent years of formal iwi/Māori and Crown working relationships has already fostered greater involvement of Māori in education. These agreements focus on lifting the achievement of Mäori children and building the skills of whänau, hapü and iwi so they can be more actively involved with the education sector.

Other significant processes provide potential to involve Māori increasingly in designing and implementing ECE policy.

The Hui Taumata Mātauranga hosted and facilitated by Ngati Tuwharetoa Paramount Chief Tumu Te Heuheu. The process provides the government, Māori and the education sector the opportunity to meet and share the responsibility for finding more effective ways for improving Māori education outcomes. The cornerstone of this work is the family and how it can be supported to access a better quality of education. Quality ECE is a key focus.
A review of the relationship between the Crown and Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust was undertaken by a Crown/Trust joint working group. The group's key purpose was to recommend ways to strengthen the relationship to ensure the best results for Māori children and their whānau in kōhanga reo. Both the strategic plan and the review provide opportunities for the Government to work more collaboratively with the Trust, whänau and iwi. This will help support quality and participation in köhanga reo in a way that supports the kaupapa of the kōhanga movement.
Further, strategies such as Whakaaro Mātauranga (Think Learning) including the Te Mana information campaign and the Pouwhakataki, as well as relationships with iwi and pan-Māori groups such as the Māori Women's Welfare League, offer opportunities for a greater range of interaction and engagement with Māori communities.

This strategic plan recognises the importance of these processes. The results targeted through the implementation of this plan fit with other ministry-supported strategies that recognise and increase Māori involvement and partnership in education.

Pasifika education

The government's Strategic Plan for ECE is in line with the goals of both the Pasifika Education Plan and the Ministry of Pacific Islands Affairs' Capacity Building Projects. In developing this plan for ECE, Pasifika communities and the government have worked to build a relationship through which participation in, and the quality of, ECE for Pasifika children and their families can be improved.

The plan aims to build on the major growth in ECE participation of Pasifika children that has occurred over the last decade. In 1990 around 3300 Pasifika children were enrolled in licensed ECE services. By 2001 this had risen to over 8000. Much of this growth has resulted from Pasifika communities establishing ECE services that fulfil their language, cultural and educational aspirations. Sixteen licensed and chartered Pasifika ECE services were established in the last year alone.

The government wants to continue working in partnership with Pasifika communities as the plan rolls out over the next 10 years. The goals, strategies and actions in this document all aim to increase participation, improve quality and promote participation for Pasifika children and their families. To illustrate this there is a specific section under each goal that explains what the strategies and actions might mean for Pasifika children, parents, family and communities.

[1] Childcare, Families and Work: New Zealand Childcare Survey 1998, Labour Market Policy Group, 1999, p 46. This impacts on women much more than men (mothers’ participation: 22 percent, fathers’: 5 percent).