Drop in kindy enrolments 'startling'

They have been a part of New Zealand communities for more than 100 years but, with their rolls in decline, kindergartens are having to make changes to meet the needs of families.

Kindergartens have traditionally run morning and afternoon sessions for 3- and 4-year-olds. Community-based, they encourage parent and family involvement.

But since 2005, kindergarten enrolments have been steadily dropping, down 12.4 per cent to 39,346 last year.

Dr Sarah Farquhar, chief executive of the Early Childhood Council, said seeing the drop in kindergarten enrolments was startling.

"It's something I predicted a long time ago. In one year [2008 to 2009] kindergartens are catering for 2141 less children and childcare has picked up a lot of these," she said.

Tanya Harvey, executive secretary of the Early Childhood Leadership Group, said the traditional kindergarten model of the past century was morphing into a range of different models to meet the demands of an increasingly diverse New Zealand.

But she said the key thing for people to remember was that the kindergarten philosophy of teaching would remain the same.

Ms Harvey said one of the big issues facing kindergartens was the need to cater for families seeking longer hours of care while continuing the traditional sessions for those who want them.

"If we didn't provide longer hours, we were likely to close," she said.

Ms Harvey said kindergartens must try to cater for both parents who were returning to work (usually lower or middle income families) and those who could afford to stay home and use the traditional sessions (often wealthier parents).

Between 2005 and last year there has been a shift in centres moving from part-day services to more offering all-day care. Dr Farquhar said this had reduced the choice available to parents and made it difficult for part-day centres to survive and provide a quality service.

"They are locked into the full-day programme."

She said the 20-hours policy had had a huge impact on kindergarten enrolments as centres restructured their hours to get the all-day funding rate, which was substantially higher than the part-day rate.

The increased number of kindy teachers and drop in students meant extra cost to the Government.

Ms Harvey agreed that government funding offered financial incentives for kindergartens to move to 9am to 3pm "school days" in the form of higher funding rates and lower teacher-student ratios for non-sessional services - benefits that were especially valuable in low-income areas.

Clare Wells, the chief executive of New Zealand Kindergartens, said despite the changes to sessions, kindergarten offered flexibility without compromising on quality.

"Obviously, if you move away from the traditional model and reduce the number of sessions a week, there will be a drop in the number of places available."

In 2007, the year 20-hours was introduced, there were 24 all-day kindergartens, 60 mixed and 534 sessional centres in New Zealand.

The following year, the number of all-day centres jumped 613 per cent, to 171, and the number of sessional centres dropped 21 per cent, to 421.

"We've seen the devaluing of parents' involvement - parents as purchasers rather than participants in early-childhood education," said Dr Farquhar.

She said both the Ministry of Education and Treasury had said the 20-hours programme had made early-childhood education more affordable, but had not necessarily improved access to those who need it most.

Ms Wells said: "While there may not be as many children enrolled in kindergarten as have been in previous years, the number of kindergartens continues to grow and the 16,000-plus children on waiting lists suggests the demand for kindergarten remains high."