Opinion: Early childhood education about quality not quantity

When did quantity override quality?

In Saturday's edition of the Rotorua Daily Post, we reported on the state of our early childhood education services.

It was revealed Rotorua has more services per population than the national average.

Our city has 105 services - for a population of 70,500 people. That is one service per 671 people, compared with one per 1020 people across New Zealand.

Between January 2014 and December 2016, 11 new services opened in Rotorua and two closed as a result of declining rolls.

Our market is completely saturated, with two or three services down many suburban streets.

While choice is great, it doesn't automatically mean all these services are up to scratch.

Speak to any parent who has scoured the city for the perfect place for their toddler and you will hear at least one horror experience of a substandard centre.

Yet these centres stay open, struggling as their rolls decline, offering additional free hours to lure in more families.

For the last few years the Ministry of Education has been intent on improving participation rates for early childhood education.

Participation is nearly 100 per cent in Rotorua, so in that respect, the Ministry is succeeding. But we also have children starting school on the back foot, having extremely poor oral and written literacy, as we've reported in the past.

Early Childhood Education that does not adequately prepare a child for their transition into primary school is not doing its job properly.

It doesn't matter that we have dozens of centres, what matters is how many of those centres are producing well adjusted, school-ready 5-year-olds.

I think it's time the staff at the Ministry and the Minister of Education shift their focus from getting bums on seats to ensuring every service they give a licence to is one they would send their own children to.