Group welcomes switch

Press, 5 December 1985, Page 8

Group welcomes switch

The New Zealand Childcare Association welcomes the Government’s decision to transfer childcare services from the Social Welfare Department to the Department of Education. The Government’s commitment to early childhood services was demonstrated by its decision to hold a two-day forum on the subject at Parliament and to transfer the services, said the president of the association, Ms Pam Croxford.

This commitment, however, would. need to be backed by substantial funding to redress the present inequalities. The report of the joint Ministerial working party on the transfer of childcare services made no mention of redistributing the present funding among pre-school services. Equity for children, parents, and workers in early childcare could only be

gained by reassessing priorities within education. The importance of the early years in a child’s development were now widely recognised. Too often the foundation of future inequalities was established in those years, she said. To redress the inequality, extra funding was needed for more staff, training, capital costs, and support people.