September 17th, 2024
The National Party's FamilyBoost subsidy, designed to alleviate childcare costs for families, has been criticised for not reaching the most needy due to administrative barriers, as well as neglecting broader sector challenges, the NZEI Te Riu Roa, New Zealand's largest education union, said in a media release on Tuesday.
The big picture: Announced in March last year, the FamilyBoost policy promises rebates on childcare fees for eligible families. However, the process requires families to claim through the Inland Revenue every three months, a requirement that has raised concerns about accessibility.
Zoom in: The NZEI Te Riu Roa's critique comes at a crucial time, pointing out the policy's invisibility when initiatives such as the previous government's 20 hours free ECE for two-year-olds would have already made a difference.
What they're saying: “While any investment in ECE is welcome, this policy doesn't even begin to address the current crisis our ECE sector is facing,” Megan White, an NZEI Te Riu Roa member and ECE centre manager, stated in the press release. The union argues that the administrative workload of claiming the rebate adds to the stress of already burdened families, suggesting that a universal fee-free model would be more effective.
Details: The education sector's crisis, according to the union, stems from longstanding underfunding and an over-reliance on market-driven solutions. These policies have led to exorbitant fees for parents, inadequate pay for teachers, and considerable profits for some centre owners.
Why it matters: The potential exodus of teachers seeking better pay abroad, coupled with anticipated cuts to pay parity for ECE teachers, underscores the urgency of addressing the crisis.
“Teachers are leaving for better wages in Australia, while the Associate Minister of Education has been foreshadowing cuts to pay parity for ECE teachers – he might as well give departing teachers a lift to the airport,” White was quoted in the media release as saying.
The bottom line: The union calls for a thorough reassessment of the ECE sector to ensure that children receive the best start in life and that educators are appropriately valued. The timing of the FamilyBoost policy, alongside impending reductions in teacher pay and conditions, signals, according to NZEI Te Riu Roa, a governmental inclination to politicise rather than solve the fundamental issues plaguing ECE.