Election Forum 2008
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transcript from forum (word)
Not sure who to vote for in the coming Election ?
Here are the responses from some main party
spokespeople to some key questions.
In the lead up to the coming election, the Early
Education Federation recently hosted a public forum in Wellington,
at which education spokes people from five major parties responded
to some key questions and then took further questions from the
floor. The purpose of the Forum was to inform early childhood
education practitioners, parents and the public about the intentions
of the main parties for the early childhood sector. The key
questions were:
1. What does your Party see as government’s
role and responsibilities for early childhood education?
2. What does your
Party see as the key purpose of early childhood education?
3. What are the
first three actions that your Party would undertake to ensure
sustained quality early childhood education provision so every child
can access a high quality local service?
A summary of
the responses follows:
 Judy Turner from United Future
said they support the provision of a variety of early childhood
options including the parent-led services. They strongly believe
that there are better educational outcomes for children when parents
are actively involved and are convinced that money spent by
government in ECE is money saved later on. If in government they
would put additional money into parent-led services and better
training for teachers on identifying the need for, and provision of
programmes for children with disabilities. She would also like to
see a better connection being made with families at risk through the
child’s early childhood education service.
 Metiria Turei from the Green Party
said they would want to work toward providing good quality learning
environments for children from birth to adulthood. The Greens are
concerned that the same funding goes to private enterprises that
provide early childhood services as goes to community groups. They
would like to see more support given to community based services.
The Greens would like to see increased participation in ECE in areas
of the country that have the least access. Metiria also said that
there needs to more investment in communities in order to alleviate
child poverty.
  Dail Jones from NZ First
said that they also recognize the importance of
investing in children in the early years to improve literacy levels
and reduce numbers in prison later in life. They want to continue
with Free ECE but have concerns about the impact on playcentres and
kindergartens. They support the goal of increasing participation and
investing in areas where that currently have least access. NZ First
wants to address the problems of recruitment and retention of
teachers generally by having a universal student allowance.
Matt Robson from the Progressive Party
said that government needs to treat ECE as an integral part of the
whole education system because it has such an influence on the
preparation of a child’s participation in the rest of their lives.
The Progressives are aware of the need to address the teacher
shortage in all areas of the education system. They believe that
education should be free from birth – i.e. early childhood through
to tertiary.
 Chris Hipkins from Labour confirmed
the party’s ongoing commitment to the Strategic Plan goals,
especially the 100% qualified teachers in ECE by 2012. He also spoke
about the goal of improving adult child ratios, and increasing and
extending participation.
Forum chair Amanda Coulson and question recorder Phillip Ozanne
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