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Thousands of parents could miss out on free early childhood education for their youngsters because they cannot get access to the scheme.
The Government is being urged to come clean on its commitment to 20 hours a week of free early-childhood education, as newly-issued documents suggest parents may have problems finding centres operating the scheme in their area.
National yesterday seized on Ministry of Education papers which suggest centres covering 14 per cent of New Zealand will not offer the free hours.
Early forecasts also predicted that centres covering 47 per cent of the country had little or no capacity to meet additional demand expected under the free hours policy.
Rural areas were considered the most likely to be unable to provide free hours, although a plan to let kohanga reo with qualified teachers into the scheme could change that.
Labour campaigned strongly on its 20 hours of free education for 3 and 4-year-olds policy for the 2005 election.
It is due to come into effect on July 1, and Education Minister Steve Maharey has said he expects the policy to benefit up to 92,000 children in its first year.
But National yesterday said the Government needed to tell parents who were factoring the policy into their budget planning that they they might not be able to take advantage of it.
"It's time to give parents the facts, not false hope, over the 20 hours free policy," National's early childhood education spokeswoman, Paula Bennett, said yesterday.
"The Government campaigned on 20 hours free, yet had no idea how it was going to deliver."
Early childhood education providers can decide whether they offer the 20 hours of free time.
One of the main elements in their decision will be the amount of money the Government will give them for each child.
Providers are now mulling over those rates, announced by Mr Maharey just before Christmas, and trying to work out if they make the free care worth providing.
The Government has offered between $4.09 and $10.60 an hour a child for 20 weekly free hours.
But some providers believe the rates are not high enough.
Early Childhood Council chief executive Sue Thorne said yesterday that many families could miss out on the 20 hours because the rates might not meet a centre's costs.
"I know our members will want to be able to deliver it, but if the rates don't come at a level that's high enough for them to deliver it ... then it's just not going to be a goer."
Her initial feeling was that the rates were "on the light side".
Ms Thorne said the Auckland region was likely to be worst affected because property and wage costs for providers were higher there.
"The Government's heart is in the right place, but what do we do now to ensure that what's been promised - which was all children - can be delivered?"
An Auckland daycare centre director, Mary Ann Grgicevich, said the complexity of the 20 free hours policy could disadvantage the children who attend part time.
"If you were to break it down to just 20 hours, it would not cover your costs."
She supported the scheme, which she said would work best for children who attend full-time, as parents would pay a weekly fee, but still receive a discount from the policy.
Her centre, Laura Daycare in Mt Albert, charges $200 a week for a child attending full time.
As the subsidy did not cover the full cost of providing 20 hours of childcare, calculating the top-up fee required for a child attending part-time could be "quite mucky".
But Childcare Association chief executive Nancy Bell said she would be surprised if many providers turned down the chance to provide free care.
The Ministry of Education papers highlighted by National suggest that obtaining access to free early childhood education may be difficult for families wanting to increase their child's hours of participation.
Some may not be able to have their preferred service or hours.
Mr Maharey yesterday said the 20 hours policy had been fully costed in consultation with early childhood educators.
The rates being offered to providers reflected "the full range" of costs for services, including property and the cost of employing more qualified teachers.
The Government would work closely with providers to "manage any capacity issues".
- Additional reporting Errol Kiong
