Quality versus afforability

11 March 2026

Why framing Early Childhood Education (ECE) as ‘quality’ versus ‘affordability’ is a mistake.

By Kathy Wolfe
First printed in the Space Magazine published by Childspace Early Childhood Institute.

As parents, we make countless decisions for our children every day. One of the most important is choosing whether to entrust our child to an early childhood education (ECE) centre, where they can learn, grow, and be well cared for while we return to work.

And as parents you can also help shape the decisions government makes about how we care for your tamariki, because the government’s current direction risks lowering the quality of education your tamariki receive in ECE. We’re also asking for your support to help advocate for the investment our sector needs so that ECE centres can keep fees in line with inflation, reduce waiting lists, expand options for families in their communities, and ensure qualified teachers are recognised and fairly remunerated for the vital work they do.

Enrolling your tamariki in ECE is a decision many New Zealand parents make knowing that ECE providers in Aotearoa are (in the main) high quality, with qualified teachers (who have a minimum of three years of degree study behind them) who understand children’s needs, how children learn, and importantly, have the skills to cope with multiple children (the current minimum ratio of teachers to children is up to five under two year olds each, or up to ten, two-five year olds).

Any parent who remembers Covid-19 knows how challenging it was to step into the role of a teacher for a day. When your child is learning to walk, talk, and interact with others, you want trained professionals guiding and supporting them, ensuring they grow, learn, and thrive in a safe and nurturing environment, especially when it’s not just your child but a whole room of children.

Quality ECE is a public good with the benefits outweighing the costs, so it is not a cost to society, but a wise choice for the government to invest appropriately in our youngest citizens. ECE centres are organised in such a way as to ensure that the safety and well-being of children is paramount. The minimum number of qualified staff is 50%, and until recently, New Zealand was aiming to reach 100% qualified teaching staff by having policy settings that supported paying teachers properly and ensured we retain teachers by having good working conditions.

But first you might ask, why do we need qualified teachers when you can have a 14-year-old babysitter look after your kids while you go to the movies? It’s a reasonable question, but ECE centres educate and care for children up to eight hours a day, five days a week, during key periods of learning and development. That is fundamentally not babysitting.

Unfortunately, the Minister responsible for ECE has indicated that he doesn’t believe qualifications are an indicator of competency, and that centre owners should be able to choose and decide what’s best for their centres. We disagree with that assertion. ECE owners should be choosing staff based on what is good for children, as opposed to staff that might be unqualified and therefore a better financial fit for their business.

The rationale for qualified teachers is simple, well-established, and the research is conclusive: qualified teachers and quality relationships and interactions are what’s best for your child in an ECE centre together with lower ratio numbers. When teachers are trained and qualified, they bring a deeper understanding of child development, learning theory, and how to support the needs of children. This means your child is more likely to:

• Be supported in their social, emotional and language development.
• Have rich learning experiences that build on their interests.
• Be safe, nurtured and understood by someone who knows how to respond in the right way at the right time.

What we know is that ECE helps young children grow and learn from birth until they start school. It’s based on the idea that giving children a great start in their early years helps them do well in their learning life and get along with others. It’s also an important component in our economy that allows parents to re-enter the workforce should they chose to do so. The catch is that it is quality ECE that achieves these outcomes, not a cut-price version.

When we look across the Tasman, we see Australia racing to catch up with the quality ECE system we have in New Zealand. They’re urgently working to increase the number of qualified teachers. There are many reasons for this push, but a key driver appears to be the abuse, neglect and harm that has occurred within their system, often involving unqualified staff. No one wants to see those kinds of headlines here, and anyone who understands what is good for the education and wellbeing of our children, knows how vital it is to protect the quality within our current system.

Just like we wouldn’t ask a doctor to fix a leaky tap or visit a builder for a toothache, we all understand the importance of having the right qualified person for the job. It’s the same with early childhood education. That’s why regulations require ECE centres to employ a minimum number of qualified teachers who have completed at least a three-year teaching degree. As a country, we’ve recognised that having fewer qualified professionals isn’t just a risk, it undermines what research informs us and we believe to be ‘quality ECE’.

The perceived problem for the current government is that ‘quality’ costs more, and the current political narrative is that cheaper is best, as evidenced by the school lunch fiasco. There, a quality system provided local jobs and fed primary school kids at a time when we know one in five children experience food insecurity and the evidence demonstrates that hunger impacts concentration, behaviour, attendance, and academic achievement. The cheaper system has been an unmitigated disaster and the contracts awarded to the multinationals have left a bitter taste in the collective mouths of primary children.

Are we about to do the same thing to our under-fives, our youngest and most vulnerable citizens?

The evidence for ‘quality’ ECE is robust, however the Minister responsible for ECE is undertaking a funding review and has provided clear instructions to balance the costs associated with quality and make ECE more affordable. This has many people justifiably worried. As parents, you should be included in the discussion whether you want quality education for your children, or whether you are willing to have that quality stripped away, reducing the number of qualified teachers, increasing the number of children to teachers, and or removing vital regulations that keep our children safe.

Most parents would say ‘no’ to this proposition, because the reality is, qualified teachers are more likely to notice what your child needs, know what to do about it, and be able to provide for the developmental and emotional requirements of your children alongside parents and caregivers, while helping prepare them to transition into primary school.

Recent actions by the government and the Ministry of Education demonstrate a shift in priorities within ECE. These changes include breaking the link between starting pay and the qualifications of a new teacher, abandoning pay equity negotiations that would have increased the pay of teachers, the instructions to balance ‘quality’ against ‘access’ in the forthcoming ECE funding review. Collectively, these measures point to a cost cutting exercise that will benefit the government and some ECE centres, not the children and parents ECE was designed for.

These decisions are likely to discourage people from training as teachers and lead to more qualified teachers leaving the profession. It’s a baffling move, but one the government is driving, with the goal to reduce the government investment in ECE, reduce costs by reducing the number of qualified teachers and lower the standard of quality in ECE to make ECE more accessible.

This should be a real concern for every parent as the answer should not to remove the quality, but rather, significantly improve ECE investment from the government to ensure affordable access to high-quality ECE for your child.

Notes: Early childhood education (ECE) plays a crucial role in shaping the future of our society and economy, with estimated economic and social returns of up to $16 for every dollar invested.

A strong foundation in high-quality ECE helps children develop key cognitive, social, emotional, and language skills that support a successful transition to school and ongoing learning throughout their education in Aotearoa New Zealand.

ECE also contributes to improved health, justice, and social well-being outcomes for children, especially for those who are disadvantaged. ECE also delivers wider benefits. Stable access to ECE supports maternal mental health, and it supports parents to re-enter the workforce. If cost barriers to ECE were removed, New Zealand parents could have increased workforce participation rates, unlocking $116 million in wages each year.

New Zealand’s current ECE funding model creates barriers to achieving the educational, social and economic outcomes expected from public investment. Established over two decades ago and subject to piecemeal changes, today’s model remains confusing and complex, and 2025 funding increases have lagged well behind inflation and rising operating costs, effectively reducing real spending for many services. Funding pressures have contributed to an estimated $104 million annual shortfall across the sector, with some centres forecasting large deficits, and around 400 services, about 8 % of them, at risk of closure in the near future . Despite high overall ECE investment per child relative to OECD countries, early learning in Aotearoa remains among the least affordable internationally, meaning many families still struggle to access quality ECE even if they can afford it.

The answer is not to remove the quality, but for significant improvement in investment ECE.

Media Contact

Rob McCann - Lead Communications Advisor | Kaitohutohu Whakapā Matua 022 411 4560 rob.mccann@ecnz.ac.nz