How do you choose?

There are many types of early childhood services to chose from in New Zealand.

Research shows that one of the highest predictors of quality education is whether staff are employed under a collective agreement. This is because staff in these centres are more likely to have better training and qualifications, higher rates of pay, more stable employment relations and higher staff:child ratios. Read more

The Ministry of Education offers generic advice on choices in early childhood education.

Information on centres where staff are covered by NZEI collective agreements

ECE Community/not-for-profit centres

The Government announced last year that it would introduce free 20 hours of early childhood education to all 3 and 4 year olds attending community/not-for-profit centres in 2007.  This has since been extended to all ECE providers.

To find out the ECE community/not-for-profit centre, listed by region, nearest you click here. To locate other centres that have site agreements with NZEI, click here.

Most of these centres are covered by the Consenting Parties Early Childhood Collective Agreement.  In 2004, teachers in the Consenting Parties won pay parity and the Government announced it would provide the additional funding to centres and services to cover the costs of paying parity - but only where teachers are paid the Consenting Parties rates or above.

Kindergartens

In New Zealand, the majority of kindergarten teachers are members of NZEI.  All teachers in Kindergartens are qualified and registered.  Most kindergartens offer five morning sessions a week to older children and three or four afternoon sessions a week.  They usually ask for a donation or fee from parents.

Home-based care

NZEI members working for Barnardos and Salvation Army home-based care services are covered by collective agreements with NZEI.