Implications for parents

The 20 hour policy was presented as a ‘free’ opportunity for parents to have their children attend quality childcare settings. New Zealand government has financially not been able to sustain the costs covered by the policy so therefore have cut government funding across the sector.

What this means for parents: if their child attends a teacher lead service additional donations would be expected of parents outside of the six hours allocated per day to make up the 20 hours of the policy. Children that had been attending ECE for one day a week now increased to the 20 hours in order for parents to gain the ‘free’ subsidy.  Parents have a choice to whether they would like to make donations to the ECE services. But once they agreed to donate to ECE it would be expected for them to continue to make these donations. The ECE services could also re-enforce legally these donations and if parents chose to not make any donations to ECE.

In Addition, hours required beyond the allocated 20 hours for the children, parents could be left out of pocket due to the large increase of charges to having their children attend ECE.

Mrs Armstrong (an unhappy parent) “wants to see the Educational Ministry to check that the policy is being administered as intended and whether costs charged by some providers are justified” (Fisher, 2010, p.1) as her daughter was going to be charged seventy dollars for an additional hour in care beyond the subsidised maximum of hours allocated per day.

The term 20 hours free policy was misleading and misrepresented by labour. They justified the term by discussing how any child should have the freedom to have access to quality education. Parents still think of the term 20 hour policy as being the ‘20 hours free policy’.

Furthermore a donation to the ECE service implies it is a freedom of choice to give money of any value to the service not a compulsory fee which is otherwise being enforced by ECE, teacher lead services. Government legislations are not effectively supporting parents or management in ECE and clearly the 20 hour policy is not working.  

References

Bushouse, B. K. (2009). The 20 hours (free) programme: Important choices ahead for New Zealand’s new government. Policy Quarterly, 5(1), 58-63. Retrieved April 20, from ips.ac.nz/publications/files/596ae740f62.pdf

Fisher, A. (2010, August 9). Hour of childcare can cost $70; 20 hours free policy blamed for charges. Dominion Post. Retrieved from Index New Zealand Database.

Ministry of Education. (2010). 20 hours ece: Information for parents. Retrieved April 20, 2011 from http://babybears.co.nz/Rates,_Fees_&_Funding_files/20HrsECEInfo4Parents.pdf

Valentine, K. (2007). 20 hours ece. Retrieved April 23, 2011, from
http://www.kiwifamilies.co.nz/Topics/Education/Early+Childhood-Education/20+Hours+ECE.html