Sharples welcomes rethink on early childhood regulations

Minister of Maori Affairs and Associate Minister of Education Dr Pita Sharples has welcomed the decision by the Minister of Education Anne Tolley to defer implementation of regulations for early childhood education centres.

"A pause to review the impact of planned regulations will be a relief to kohanga and whanau-led centres, to ensure that bureaucratic micro-management is not stifling their capacity to provide quality and culturally appropriate early childhood education services" said Dr Sharples

"Maori are accessing a fantastically diverse range of early childhood centres - including nga kohanga reo; Playcentre, Rudolf Steiner, Montessori, Pacific Island language nests, kindergartens and many other education and care centres," said Dr Sharples. "We need to embrace this choice, not restrict the capacity of centres to respond to the needs of particular children or to develop innovative services, because of an oppressive regime of micro-rules."

"Of course, whanau want kaupapa Maori centres to provide the best possible quality of care and education in safe environments, and we have made huge progress over many years to employ trained staff and provide a professional service. But regulations must not deflect the whanau from the purpose of kohanga or other early childhood settings, or prevent them maintaining their distinctive culture of child-rearing," he said.

"Throughout the history of kohanga, kura kaupapa Maori, wharekura and wananga, whanau have resisted being defined and categorised as something they are not.

"When changes to early childhood legislation were debated in 2006, the Maori Party spoke out strongly for flexibility and whanau choice in the management of early childhood education. We introduced an SOP, to address concerns from the sector at the time," said Dr Sharples.

"So we welcome this decision by the new Minister to ensure that compliance with regulations will not reduce the diversity of early childhood education, which meets the needs and circumstances of Aoteraroa's diverse cultures and communities.

"I am also very pleased to have been appointed Associate Minister of Education, and I look forward to working with the sector to support their interests," Dr Sharples said.