Ashlee Froggatt is one of many parents in Kaitaia struggling to find a spot as wait lists at facilities are full.
Kaitāia early childhood education (ECE) centres are under immense pressure as childcare demand outweighs service supply, with growing waitlists leaving parents frustrated.
As centres reach full capacity, especially for babies under two, many families are being forced to make sacrifices – some even leaving jobs to care for children at home.
While parents and facilities battle with waitlists, the Ministry of Education says it is having continuous engagements in the community, to understand the concerns and impacts.
Nga Wawata Early Childhood Centre manager Kerry Allen says many Kaitāia facilities are full.
“You always have people looking, there are a few [facilities] available, yet people are still struggling to find placements,” Allen says.
“We currently have a full roll and full waitlist.”
Allen says the search for childcare may be harder for parents with children under two, as babies have more needs and get funded less. Far North socio-economic factors are also a factor, she says.
“Many suffer from poverty and that is part of it... in the Far North there is also a high use of drugs and alcohol, resulting in related harms like foetal alcohol syndrome.
“Children with the condition and others, like autism, need more care and those parents may also struggle to find a spot.
“We are fighting for more funding to keep our kids and workers safe. Because to do this job you need to have a passion for it and keeping kids safe is important. If anything happens to a kid, not only will they be hurt, but it also stays with you forever.”
She says being at an ECE is an important part of a child’s development and no child should miss out on essential life skills and social competence learnt at the ECE phase.
“It teaches kids how to be part of a world outside of their family... I feel for tamariki that don’t have that experience.
“Changes to the Education Department criteria for opening a centre have become tighter,” she says, which could be adding to the low number of available centres.
”Their stance is quantity over quality, but it’s not so straightforward.”
Allen adds that all families are equally affected.
“We have working parents that are looking for places and are also struggling.”
The manager of another childcare centre, who asked not to be named, said their wait list was one to two years.
“With Covid, we saw many people move back to Kaitāia and there are just not enough facilities.
“While spots sometimes come available, we do always recommend that whānau look elsewhere.”
Ashlee Froggatt thought she was ahead of the pack when she enrolled her son just after he was born, now months have passed, and she is yet to hear back from any facility.
“There just aren’t enough centres up here, especially for under twos, everything is full, and the waiting lists are a year wait.
“I have had to resign from my job that I had before going on maternity leave, as I am needing to stay home with my bubba.
“We are now a one income household longer than we thought we would be. We knew I was going to stay home for at least the year, but hoped we could get him in for a few days a week in a centre, so I could go [work] a few days.
“But as this hasn’t happened, we are now trying to juggle all the bills on one income which is very hard at times.”
Froggatt constantly calls to check on movement on the waitlists “but all I’ve been told is there is no time frame”.
She believes the problem is affecting many other families and may lead to others taking drastic steps.
“Soon people will have to move out of the area just so they can financially support their families.”
Hautū (leader) Te Tai Raro (north) Isabel Evans said Early Learning Services can help children learn important skills that will help them later in life, building on what a child is already learning at home and the Ministry of Education had programmes in place to assist with learning.
“Early Learning Services are privately owned and operated; the funding available from the ministry is to support the provision of education. The primary role of the ministry is to ensure minimum regulatory licensing criteria is maintained.”
She adds that there are a number of funding initiatives in place to support centres, which include Targeted Assistance Participation Funding to build and create new Early learning Services and strengthening Early Learning Opportunities Funding to provide professional development opportunities to Early Learning Services.
The Ministry of Education also provides curriculum assistance that engage learners, promote progress, and foster wellbeing.
In Kaitāia, the ministry has hosted hui with the local ELS sector each quarter to understand concerns and impacts.
This year, four hui have been held with local ministry staff and the Kaitāia ECE sector.
Te Kura Early Childhood programme supports learning at home in the early years and sees qualified learning advisors share information and develop learning programmes with ākonga and whānau. The programme is free and is for tamariki between 2 and 6.
“The Te Kura ECE team recently visited Kaitāia to meet with the early learning sector, there was discussion focused on enrolling children who are currently on a waiting list into Te Kura. Te Kura shared with the sector their enrolments process, resources provided to whānau and ākonga, and information regarding their ECE team.
“The early learning sector and other organisations present, were grateful for the meet and greet to understand the Te Kura ECE process.
“Feedback was that they felt it provided additional options for whānau and provided an opportunity to explore the resources. Some attendees continued to engage and contact Te Kura outside of the hui. Te Kura has advised the Ministry that enrolments have been processed due to their visit.”
The Te Kura enrolment policy can be found here: tekura.school.nz.
Yolisa Tswanya is deputy news director at the Northern Advocate based in Whangārei.