ECE participation

The Government’s priority is to improve ECE participation for Māori and Pasifika children, and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Generally, 95% of all new entrants have had some ECE when they start school, but the figure is much lower for Māori and Pasifika children (91% and 85% respectively).  This figure varies according to the region.  For example, in Counties Manukau last year, one in four Māori children starting school had not participated in ECE.  Children entering lower-decile schools are also much less likely to have participated in ECE than their peers entering higher-decile schools.

The children currently least likely to participate are the same ones that would most benefit from ECE.

Government is investing in new intensive, community-led participation projects in high-priority areas, parent engagement programmes, supported playgroups, and support for ECE providers to work more effectively with Māori and Pasifika families and families from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

What is the Government already doing to increase participation?

The Government has invested in the Counties Manukau Participation Project, which includes supported playgroups, street side playgroups and play days in local communities.

The Government has also invested in building ECE services on existing school sites in the Counties Manukau area. This includes building at Weymouth Primary (Manurewa), beginning on 11 May, and building of a centre at Mansell Senior School (Papakura), beginning shortly.

The Tāmaki Project, which is under development, also involves increasing ECE participation.

In addition, the Discretionary Grants Scheme has supported the building of ECE centres with 410 new places for children nationally since July 2009.

What is the Government doing about boosting participation in this Budget?

The Government is putting an additional $91.8 million over four years into a package to boost participation of Māori and Pasifika children and children from lower socio-economic status backgrounds.  Existing funding for property assistance and parent engagement programmes is also being reworked with more focus on boosting participation.

What is in the participation package?

The package includes: intensive community-focussed participation projects; supported playgroups; language, culture and community engagement support projects; and projects to support flexible and responsive home-based services.

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Which children will be targeted for extra support to participate?

Most of the participation package will be targeted to areas where there are large groups of non-participating children, who are statistically most likely to be Māori, Pasifika, or from lower socio-economic status backgrounds.

There will also be some funding for projects in areas that have smaller groups of non-participating children, where the projects meet participation or other Government priorities such as ensuring access to quality education for rural children or supporting ECE through languages other than English.

Why is the focus on Māori and Pasifika children and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds?

Māori and Pasifika children have lower participation rates at 91% and 85% respectively compared to the national rate of 95%.

Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds are also much less likely to have participated in ECE than their peers from higher socio-economic status backgrounds. (This is measured by comparing the participation rates of children entering low decile versus high decile schools).

How will areas be chosen?

Participation projects will be concentrated in areas with large numbers of non-participating children. Different participation initiatives will be implemented in different areas depending on the needs of families and communities in each area.

How have these initiatives been designed?

They will build on promising, research-based ideas or pilots, and complement the existing universal support for all children.  The package will be fully evaluated to inform which initiatives might be more widely used.

How many children will be affected by the participation package?

It is expected up to 3,500 children over four years will access quality ECE as a result of this package.

How will this package link with other government initiatives for lower socio-economic communities?

This package will be aligned with Transforming Family and Community Services (the Ministry of Social Development) improvements to WellChild (the Ministry of Health), and Whānau Ora (Te Puni Kokiri).

Are there any further announcements expected?

The Minister intends to make further announcements about participation work within the next few weeks.