KEY POINTS:
The Ministry of Education is telling preschools to consider raising their fees if Government funding for 20 hours' free childcare is not enough.
The advice runs counter to the Government's own assurances in 2005 that fees for under-3s would not be affected by the policy and would be possibly controlled if there were unreasonable increases.
The option, being suggested as a way to bolster the free funding in childcare centres so they do not have to cut extra services, is likely to enrage parents, who will feel they are being asked to subsidise a Government scheme.
Childcare groups said parents of toddlers aged under 3 and those in daycare for more than 20 hours a week would be subsidising a "Government promise" to older children.
The letter from Rose Cole, the ministry's senior programme manager of early childhood education (ECE), said one option for centres if the free funding was less than needed was to "change the fees for all groups to cover the cost for free ECE".
Early Childhood Council president Sue Thorne said that would punish parents and was contrary to Government promises that other children would not have to pay more to keep the level of service.
She said the rules that came with any funding had to contain checks and balances to ensure centres could not pass on the costs to other children.
"I would find it unacceptable as a parent to think that I was paying more for my 1- or 2-year-old so it could be free for someone pulling up next to me in the centre car park. I would not be expecting to contribute to a shortfall and it doesn't ring true with the policy. It's bizarre for the ministry to accept it as an acceptable practice and I don't think parents will wear it at all."
A spokesman for Education Minister Steve Maharey said the Government's position had not changed.
The letter was sent to the Home Based Early Childhood Education Association in November and passed to the Herald by a person who wished to stay anonymous.
Yesterday, Mrs Cole said the letter was not an invitation to boost fees, but to suggest a review of current fees, revenue and the services centres provided to find how the funding affected them.
She said some centres could earn more revenue under the free funding than they currently did, so fees could be adjusted downward. "We will be monitoring fees for non-free hours closely. The ministry would be very concerned if services decided to raise their fees significantly."
Under the scheme for free education for 3- and 4-year-olds, the Government will fund centres for up to 20 hours a week and six hours a day at levels from $4.09 to $10.60 an hour per child.
Centres can continue to charge fees for children aged under 3 and on 3- and 4-year-olds for hours spent over the 20-hours limit - about 20 per cent of children in childcare.
Carol Stovold, owner of two home-based services in Tauranga and Rotorua, said the letter clearly contained the implication children not covered by the funding should pay more to allow the policy to be introduced.
National Party early education spokeswoman Paula Bennett said: "It's just unfair on those parents to say your fees for an 18-month-old go up to pay for the 3- and 4-year-olds because we can't afford to run the service otherwise."
