Swings + Roundabouts Winter 2021

ensure jobs for your teaching and support staff. A less conspicuous announcement by the Minister was his desire to review the ECE funding system. Finally! The ECC has been banging on about this since 2012, when the previous funding review project was stalled. The Minister appears motivated because of the concerns expressed by some that unscrupulous centre owners and managers will squirrel away sums from the pay parity increase for other purposes – perhaps a trip to the Cooks now that the borders are a little more relaxed. Yeah right! So why have we asked for the overly complex ECE funding system to be reviewed for so long? The government refuses to pay for anything in ECE except the minimum, hence the expression ‘licensing criteria are minimum standards’. Your funding rates are based on the minimum teacher pay rates, which the government then reinforces by setting the specification for ECE services through the licensing criteria and funding rules (which, as we know, often conflict with one another). The government then overlays this funding model with a level of compliance requirements designed to address “perceived” risk. Hence, every centre has 303 different requirements under regulation and licensing criteria that it must get right, every minute of every day it is open. I have to smile at ERO’s intention to highlight innovation and excellence as the third string of their new review structure. For innovation to truly occur, centres need a level of freedom they’re not getting currently under the compliance yoke. How easy is it to change the hours of operation to better suit parent needs? How easy is it to better reflect a child’s learning needs, irrespective of age, rather than having to start children at school because some magic switch turned on at midnight on their 6th birthday says they have to. No, every decision we want to make in service design and delivery sits under a cloud of compliance expectation. We need this review of the ECE funding system. We need to push the boundaries of economic and political decision-making to give the sector the space to be truly awesome, to provide children and families with the excellent ECE experience they deserve and want. I hope to see you at the ECC’s one-day conference in Auckland on 3rd July where we are taking the opportunity to have these discussions, with the theme “ Survive, Revive or Thrive ”. After the pressures of poor funding levels, a teacher shortage, COVID-19 and increasing compliance demands, we need a little head space to think about what the future might bring and how to take care of ourselves and our teams to be there for our children and families. See you in July. See the programme and register at www.ecc.org.nz/events Come to the ECC one-day conference at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau City, on 3rd July 2021 ● The ECE Teacher Shortage? ● COVID-19? ● The lack of per-child subsidy funding ● Pay parity? ● Pay equity claims? ● Increased compliance monitoring? How about looking a�er your team? And looking a�er yourself? What are you doing to cope with: June 2021 { 9 }