The Bay's early childhood education centres are struggling to find qualified teachers, with some Tauranga centres receiving a majority of interest from unqualified applicants.
The University of Waikato's Te Kura Toi Tangata Faculty of Education endorsed the new Government's indication of a policy return to an emphasis on fully qualified teachers in early childhood education.
Tauranga-based associate professor and associate dean of education Jayne White said graduates were "gobbled up" even before they graduated.
"While the previous government policies had led to the gradual erosion of high standards, most centres have worked hard to maintain these - often at great personal cost," White said.
"Now that we have a return to higher standards in our sights, there is going to be an even greater increase in need for qualified teachers in the region."
White said research showed three key aspects of structural quality included ratios, group size and qualified staff.
"Where any of these aspects are compromised, the quality of children's experience is too."
White said qualified teachers were selected suitable before undergoing three-to-four years of indepth study which involved several weeks' experience in different centres and age groups.
"I am mystified as to how any parent could leave their precious child in the care and education of an unqualified teacher - would they submit themselves to brain surgery with an untrained doctor?"
White said the Waikato University Tauranga campus had about 45 students in its early childhood education programme which had remained stable over two years despite government policies that made enrolments less attractive.
"Now that we have the first year of the programme offered free, we anticipate there will be more students in our classes in the year ahead."
SO MANY APPLICANTS, NOT MANY QUALIFIED
Gate Pa Preschool owner Caroline Hjorth said two of her qualified teachers were going on maternity leave next year and she was worried about having to fill their spots.
Hjorth had not had to advertise for staff for a while but said it was hard to find qualified teachers.
She said the centre quite often had CVs handed in but most were from unqualified teachers.
"The concern is because your funding is linked to having qualified teachers ... Plus it is best practice to have qualified teachers in front of the children. These children are our future."
The Gate Pa centre which was licensed for 30 children had four qualified teachers and one unqualified teacher.
"I would not run the centre on any less than four qualified teachers," she said.
"You have to respect a teacher with no qualification can offer a lot to the centre but it is best practice to have a qualification."
Hjorth has two diplomas in teaching and one Bachelor of Teaching.
"I have always wanted to become a mother and a teacher. I absolutely love my job.
"It is a profession that should have people who are passionate about children. That is what I look for in a teacher when they come in."
HIS 'FOREVER TEACHER'
"Will you be my forever teacher?" The question from a little boy was the moment Christine Hartley knew she wanted to become a qualified early childhood education teacher.
Hartley worked unqualified for 18 months in a church environment and part-time in early childhood centres when she met a special little boy.
"I wanted to connect with him, but I wasn't sure how to go about this ... I had no teaching strategies to call upon and I felt this deficit acutely.
"However, I remember how one day he turned to me and looked at me with big round eyes [and whispered] 'Will you be my forever teacher?'
"I knew, in that moment, that I needed to study and learn how to be the best teacher I could possibly be ...
"My thirst to know more became the driving force to enrol at university and begin the path to gaining my degree."
The 32-year-old was now a fulltime student at Waikato University Tauranga campus and an early childhood relief teacher at Toi Ohomai Childcare Centre.
When Hartley began teaching unqualified she often proclaimed, "It is not the books that make a good teacher, it is the heart.
"While I still place a huge value on the heartbeat of a teacher, I cannot deny how studying through the early childhood degree changes a person," Hartley said.
"You are trained to think critically about issues that are pertinent to young children in our society ..."
A Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology spokeswoman said 36 students were awarded an early childhood qualification at the 2017 end-of-year graduation for Level 3-Level 5.
Toi Ohomai student Tamara Daysh graduated this week and chose to study early childhood because she shared a passion for working with children.
"I want to help guide them through the obstacles in life and help them reach their goals."
Daysh said there was about 25 students in her early childhood class at Toi Ohomai.
She said a qualified teacher was an indication to employers the applicant was knowledgeable in the industry.
The 20-year-old had just got a job working at Lollipops in Brookfield and was "loving it".
Inspired Kindergartens principal Peter Monteith said there was no shortage of qualified kindergarten teachers and it was a rare occasion to hire an unqualified teacher.
Someone with good relationship practice who could engage with children was what Monteith looked for in a kindergarten teacher.
"Someone who has a good understanding of play-based learning and an appreciation of diversity."