Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Kathy Wolfe: Early Childhood New Zealand CEO on the proposed changes to regulations in the sector

Transcript

Kathy Wolfe: Early Childhood New Zealand CEO on the proposed changes to regulations in the sector · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The long were waited regulatory review into our early childhood
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: education sector has now been released. This is just the
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: regulatory review, right, It's about all the regulations that cover
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the sector. It found the Ministry for Education does not
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: have a compliance monitoring system and the Education Review Office
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: doesn't have enforcement powers when non compliance is identified. So
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: it's made fifteen recommendations which will be put together into
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: a report and then taken to Cabinet in the new year.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Now the review has been met all the way through
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: with criticism from both the sector and the opposition, concerns
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: that would impact the quality of education received by KIWI kids.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Kathy Wolf though is this is Kathy wolf Is the
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Early Childhood New Zealand Chief Executive and joints. We now
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: thank you for waking up early.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Kathy more than Andrew.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: No problem, you've welcomed the review. What do you make
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  Speaker 1: of it?
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Well, we really please that the Ministry of Regulation you
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: have listened to over the two thousand submissions that were made.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: They did a great job in terms of engaging with
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: the sector. But as you just mentioned, it's now about
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: how those recommendations are in the land, because at the
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: end of the day, the priority is children's right to
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: education and making sure that the quality remains.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: That's right, Well, there's fifteen recommendations. It's regulatory changes and
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: that range across licensing and workforce and compliance and regulation,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: not curriculum as such, but you know, just those all
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: that sort of structures of putting together say a nearly
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: childhood care center. The Minister reckons this will promote innovation,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: quality and growth, but the critics reckon that this means
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: that shonky operators will be able to slip through. What
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: do you reckon?
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Well, there is the danger of that. So for us,
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: it's about making sure that we work with the Minister
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: to make you know, to recommendations of that land in
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: the right places and that are fit for purposes. Is
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: at the end of the day, we are focused on
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: quality education. So in all those areas that you just mentioned,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: we need to make sure that it does make it
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: efficient for services to run and make good use of
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: public investments. We also need to make sure that every
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: child is a education free access.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Okay, Now, the report does say it will enable more
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: providers into what is a thriving market. You could say
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: it's a market short of centers. You know, their appearance
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: and there as kids and they want an EC near
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: them as soon as they can. Is that what is needed?
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: More providers in a thriving.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Market, providers are needed. There's definitely areas and regions around
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: New Zealand that don't have access to each older education
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: and that needs to be rectified. But unfortunately that was
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: what the network planning was meant to do and that
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: was abolished, which is probably the one part of the
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: system that actually needed to stay, but it just needed some.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Tweaks to it, all right, So you'll be watching closer
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: to see where what the government does with this. It
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: does seem like an awfully long process, doesn't it. Kathy Wolf,
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: the Early Childhood New Zealand TV executive, thank you so
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: much for your time. Here's the thing, the multi agency
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: confusion that we have in our system right now was highlighted.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Here's an example the height of door handles with incentive
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: based ECE services as a perfect example. Both fire and
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: emergency New Zealand and MB have differing requirements then overseen
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: by the Ministry of Education who have their own differing requirement,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: resulting in both confusion and costs. It means that door
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: handles move up and down, depending on whose rules you
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: listen to. Isn't That Crazy? For more from Early Edition
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: with Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talks at B
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.