Linda Harley Higher subsidies for preschools with 100 per cent qualified teachers have been restored for the first time in a decade.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins have announced a $278 million funding boost over the next four years for early childhood education (ECE) services with fully qualified staff.
Today's announcement will lift the current subsidy rate for children aged 3 and 4 in centres with at least 80 per cent qualified teachers from $12.71 an hour in kindergartens, and from $11.82 an hour in education and care centres with fully qualified teachers.
The higher rates for kindergartens reflect higher wages, even though the Budget provided $151 million over four years to lift the minimum pay rates of all qualified ECE teachers to the same as the minimum rates for kindergartens.
(Source NZ Herald 18 May 2020)
