Pamela Steele loves working at the Marie McFarland Kindergarten and she will miss the children and teachers when she is made redundant.
Ms Steele has been at the Castlecliff kindergarten for two-and-a-half years, but is one of 14 teacher-aides in the Whanganui Kindergarten Association facing the chop at the end of the term.
The redundancies come on the back of the Government's funding cuts to early childhood education that were announced in May and will take effect in February.
Ms Steele said she was surprised to hear about the redundancies, but once the association management explained why, she and the other teacher-aides understood it had a difficult decision to make.
"I know they have to work within their budget."
Ms Steele has praised the association for its support to the teacher-aides and help with a CV.
She works five hours a day, which works in well with her family, and came to the job with a one-year teacher-aide certificate from Training for You.
Ms Steele says she's worried about the prospects of finding another job, especially with a mortgage to pay.
She's also aware that without a teacher-aide to do the administration tasks, helping in the play room, and talking to parents, the fulltime teachers will have extra work that will lengthen their day.
The kindergarten has 40 children in the morning and 30 in the afternoon, with one teacher to every 10 children.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from Whanganui Chronicle
Council 'closer to the action' after shutting holdings company
“You need people there with commercial expertise and knowledge of the industries."