Support role of child care centres emphasised

Press, 12 August 1986, Page 31

Support role of child care centres emphasised

PA Wellington Childcare centres could help reduce community violence by being role models for pre-schoolers and families under stress, the Minister of Education, Mr Marshall, said. With support, families could learn to cope with stress and concentrate on enjoying their children, rather than dominating them, he told an Early Childhood Workers’ Union conference in Wellington yesterday. The conference was the union’s first since gaining a national award.

“If non-violent coping strategies can become part of young children’s learning, if they can learn to respect themselves and others, the basic foundations for a less violent society should be laid,” Mr Marshall said. ' Society- was in danger of accepting increased crime as the price of modern living, he said.

Childcare centres also had a duty to support New Zealand’s multi-cultural society. - . v - “Failure to accept these facts of life will leave our society the poorer and make for a rising level of tension,” Mr Marshall said.

The Education Department had responded to growing national demand for pre-school childcare services by taking over administration of the rules governing centres, he said.

The department had increased its training grants and workers’ salary subisidies by $305,000 for this financial year and planned to appoint<26 extra staff to deal with childcare.

But any increase in funding had to be followed by an increase in accountability, he said. ~ The Government could not afford to invest in low-quality services.