KEY POINTS:
The Government is defending its free early childhood education scheme again after centres were advised to raise fees for hours on top of the 20 free ones and only enrol children for longer than six hours a day.
A newsletter from Anthony Gilbert, of Affiliated Business Consultants which
sells childcare centres, advises operators to set enrolment policies so children can only enrol for a minimum of seven hours a day - one hour more than the maximum of six hours a day under the 20 free hours policy.
Mr Gilbert's advice is that rather than relying on "voluntary" charges from parents, centres should set a fee for the seventh hour to make up for any shortfall in the "free" funding the Government is providing for all children aged 3 and 4.
Education Minister Steve Maharey has previously said any unreasonable fee rises for time on top of the free 20 hours will not be allowed.
National Party early childhood education spokeswoman Paula Bennett said it showed centres were being forced to resort to "trickery" to get discounts for parents. "These centres must have certainty of income and they can't rely on donations."
Mr Gilbert said it was the only way to make up the shortfall that did not leave centres reliant on parental willingness to pay "optional charges".
He said the advice was vetted by the Ministry of Education, "and they said I'm not incorrect, that you could go down that path".
"It never will be free in Auckland. The Government was kidding itself if they thought they could in Auckland."
A spokeswoman for Mr Maharey said the ministry had seen earlier drafts of the newsletter and advised on them, but had not seen the final version.
She was unsure whether the seven-hour policy was included in the ministry's initial drafts.
She did not comment on whether the move would be allowed under the policy, but said the ministry had written to Mr Gilbert advising him against providing advice to centres and asking him to refer any centres directly to it.
A petition signed by 3500 parents was presented in Parliament yesterday, calling on the Government to deliver fully on its promise so parents would not be hit with top-up charges.
Petition organiser Amy Malcolm said in practice the "free" funding was a subsidy rather than a totally free package and few centres were actually offering it without extra charges attached.
"This is clearly not what was promised and we are concerned that even if providers do end up offering the 20 free hours, the financial benefit to families will be severely compromised by centres recouping their costs from parents in other ways."
In Parliament yesterday Prime Minister Helen Clark stood by the policy, saying it meant "the regulated standard is free" and it would save parents "thousands of dollars".
