Playcentre struggles without funding

Playcentre funding is back in the spotlight following revelations that the promised funding increases for the early childhood education provider seem unlikely to be delivered.
The NZ herald reported that the u-turn on funding commitments could see centres clsoing.
Playcentre struggles without funding - Preschool - NZ Herald News

Playcentres Grossly Underfunded Report Finds

Playcentres are being grossly underfunded. That's the finding of a new report released last week. The report, prepared by Woodhams Research Associates, found that government funding was substantially lower than required for Playcentre to be sustainable due to a systematic discounting on Playcentre costs. It also found that parents are frustrated by the need to waste their time on Ministry of Education red tape rather than providing the programme for their children.

The New Zealand Playcentre Federation said the report highlighted how the government has undermined parents wanting to educate their own children.

Political reaction has been swift with National promising to incorporate Playcentre within the free early childhood funding model and United Future urging action to support Playcentre http://www.unitedfuture.org.nz/default,995,playcentres_being_systematically_under-funded.sm

"We have been trying for years to get the government to recognise the stress they have been putting Playcentre under. Now we have documented evidence of their systematic underfunding" said Playcentre Federation President, Marion Pilkington.

Key findings in the report include:

* The Ministry of Education appears to have ignored 31% of Playcentre costs when calculating funding rates;

* There is no adequate argument for excluding Playcentre from the 20 hours free ECE policy;

* Playcentre members, at centre and association level, have to volunteer for over 2000 hours per year for each centre on activities other than running the educational programme.

* Government policies have discriminated against parent provision of ECE.

"We have always known that Playcentre provides high quality education for our children" said Mrs Pilkington. "The report shows how the Playcentre model of education matches the best international research on high quality outcomes for children and their families as well."

Rural Playcentres often form community hubs and meeting points, especially after the closure of small schools and services such as post offices. It is in the interest of all communities to see that the Playcentre model remains healthy and viable.

"Playcentre calls on all political parties to support our drive for fair funding, effective structural support and reduced bureaucratic red tape" said Marion Pilkington.

The full report is published at www.playcentre.org.nz

Carter Responds To ParentsChoice'08

The Minister of Education, Hon Chris Carter, has responded to concerns about funding for Playcentre. Playcentre receives disproportionately low funding compared to "professional" early childhood services. However, increasing compliance and administration is taking up increasing amounts of time for Playcentre parent volunteers. Parents Choice believes that parent-led Early Childhood Education (ECE) should be valued at least as much as those providers who earn a living or make a business out of early childhood education services.

The response provided by the Minister is as follows:

"Different types of services are funded at different levels because they have different operating costs...Kindergartens have high proportions of registered teachers, usually 100% and therefore can access the higher funding rates."

"Families who use teacher-led services face high fees, which can be a barrier to their children's participation in ECE. Higher funding rates for teacher-led services aim to reduce this cost barrier for parents. In Playcentres parents provide a high level of voluntary input. Higher subsidies for Playcentres would not necessarily increase participation. I can assure you government continues to support the work of Playcentre."

First we appreciate that Mr Carter replied to our concerns. We also accept that the government wishes to encourage participation in ECE. however, in our view parents who volunteer their time to look after their own children should not be discriminated against, in the allocation of government funding.

Early Childhood Education Funding

Playcentre www.playcentre.org.nz is a parent-run co-operative which provides early childhood education. It is indigenous to New Zealand and has provided a significant share of ECE service in NZ. However, to date Playcentre has been excluded from sharing in the funding the government makes available to teacher-led ECE providers. The reason given is that Playcentre does not charge high enough prices to parents. So therefore they cannot access the subsidies made available to other ECE service providers. Very odd given that the purpose of the subsidies is to reduce the price parents have to pay.

Playcentres have trained parents leading ECE sessions. They are NZQA qualified. So poor quality cannot be the issue. So why the discrimination? Maybe they just don't fit the funding formula that the Ministry of Education likes to work with? Maybe the parents running playcentres are not union members? In any case in a smart piece of political tactics the National party recently announced that it would bring Playcentres into the mainstream of ECE funding. The question now is whether Labour will at long last do the same?

New Parents Group Wants Income Splitting

Media Statement

Saturday 9 February 2008

New Group Wants Income Splitting For Parents

A new lobby group – Parents Choice '08 – has today announced that it will campaign this election year for tax reform to allow parents to split their incomes for tax purposes thereby recognising the contribution of the "at home" parent.

"Parents want their role to be recognised by society. They are tired of being undervalued simply because they work with children at home" says Parents Choice Chairman, Roger Ellis.

"Income Splitting would allow a parent at home to share their partner's income for tax purposes. This means that a parent earning $60,000 per year could split the income with their partner so that each was taxed on $30,000. This could save the couple up to $123 per fortnight in tax" said Mr Ellis.

"We should not underestimate the importance of children bonding with parents – especially during the early years of development. Families today are being taxed without any recognition of the contributions made by at home parents. If Income Splitting were introduced it would restore some measure of value to at home parenting" said Mr Ellis.

"The pressures pushing both parents to hurriedly rejoin the workforce need to be relieved. Our labour force participation rates are already among the highest in the OECD. Better economic performance will come from higher productivity and improved social cohesion. Income splitting could help make the difference for many families. Families choosing to look after their own children at home should be free to make their own choice as to when they rejoin the workforce. Income Splitting will help them do that" said Mr Ellis.

Parents can show their support for Parents Choice by emailing: parentschoice08@gmail.com or comment via the blog at www.parentschoice08.blogspot.com

ENDS

For information:

Roger Ellis, Chairman, Parents Choice '08
ph: 021 526 264
email: parentschoice08@gmail.com
www.parentschoice08.blogspot.com