Teanau Tuiono: ECE teachers' working conditions are kids' learning conditions

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson at an early childhood centre. Photo / Supplied

Opinion:

I recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with a group of early childhood education (ECE) teachers.

They talked about their passion and commitment to being the best teachers they can be for our tamariki. There were also frustrations with how low pay and underfunding meant thousands of teachers were leaving the profession.

There's a critical shortage of qualified ECE teachers. Even though we've got more children in ECE than ever before, despite there being 55 per cent fewer people training to be ECE teachers than 10 years ago. We aren't keeping and attracting great teachers.

I also learned that, despite being just as qualified, ECE teachers are paid up to 31.8 per cent less than their colleagues in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. That is a massive pay gap. Every teacher - no matter what age children they work with - is a teacher.

ECE teachers do an incredible job teaching our tamariki. The first years in a child's life are so important and set children up for educational success.

The future of our physical, cognitive, emotional and social development is profoundly affected by our early experiences. At the heart of these experiences are the relationships children form with their parents, their first teachers and their learning environments.

We urgently need to invest in our youngest children by fixing the pay gap and fund services to provide quality care and education. Pay parity will keep teachers in ECE, where there is currently a huge shortage due to the low pay rates and poor conditions across the majority of the sector.

Ultimately, this benefits no one more than tamariki.

Teachers' working conditions are children's learning conditions. We need to recognise the value of our teachers supporting the future of our children.

Our education system should provide everyone with the best possible start to a life-long journey of learning that happens inside and outside the classroom and that starts with supporting the teachers who help guide them on that journey.

+ Teanau Tuiono is a Green list MP based in Palmerston North.