File photo. A Ministry for Regulation review said the regulations were excessive and confusing. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
A group of kindergarten associations fears an overhaul of early childhood regulations will lower standards.
A Ministry for Regulation review said the regulations were excessive and confusing and recommended three-quarters of the 98 licensing criteria be rewritten or ditched altogether.
Most early childhood groups welcomed the report and said the sector's rules needed to change.
But Amanda Coulston from Kindergartens Aotearoa, which represents six kindergarten associations, said the review was focused on the needs of businesses rather than the needs of children.
"We're concerned that this will be an attack on standards and an undermining of safety for children," she told RNZ's Morning Report.
"The report hasn't used the key proven evidence indicators of high quality as its reference, and therefore the report very much privileges providers and is focused much more on a market model. The criteria that they want to review - and they want to actually merge, wipe 74 percent of the criteria out - relate to curriculum, relate to health and safety, relate to governance in management and so we really concerned that an unintended consequence of these actions will be that quality and safety is undermined."
Coulston said the review's recommendations around staff qualifications were a good example.
The review said some providers, especially in rural areas, struggled to find qualified teachers and one option was to recognise qualifications and experience other than teaching qualifications.
Coulston said that would be a backward step because teacher qualifications were a key indicator of safety and quality education.
"It's been proven worldwide that qualified registered teachers and regulated positions should be what we are working towards. But this report recommends looking at qualifications and having alternative qualifications. We are totally opposed to that," she said.
The Early Childhood Council said flexibility around staffing was long overdue and services needed to "support the wider workforce with qualifications".
It said the sector was wrapped up in too much red tape and change was desperately needed.
The council said the Education Ministry had lost the trust of many in the early childhood sector, which wanted clearer, more effective regulation.
A group of early childhood organisations including Barnardos, Te Rito Maioha and HomeBase Aotearoa said the review's 15 key recommendations were balanced and had the potential to improve the sector's regulatory framework.
"The challenge now is to ensure how these recommendations land and that they protect the quality of early childhood education," it said.
New Zealand Kindergartens also welcomed the review and said involving the sector in rewriting the regulations would be critical.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.