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Minister of Education Trevor Mallard Speech at
launch
Senior NZCER researcher Linda Mitchell Speech
at launch
Photos from
launch
5 July, 2005
On July 5th
the Early Education Federation was launched at a function held at
Education House in Wellington.
The
new organisation
represents 17 national bodies involved in early childhood
education and was launched by the Minister of Education, Trevor
Mallard in Wellington.
The Early Education
Federation includes organisations representing kindergartens, playcentres, community early childhood centres, home-based
providers, hospital early childhood education services, special
education and providers of teacher education, as well as employers
and unions for early childhood teachers.
The organisations
represented provide education to around 113,000 children and offer
early childhood teaching and post-graduate qualifications to more
than 3,000 students.
The Federation
plans to give a higher profile to early childhood education issues.
Jane Couch,
a long standing member of the Federated Early Childhood
Education Organisations of NZ, welcomed the guests and introduced
speakers for the evening. She
says that while a strength of the New Zealand early childhood sector
is its diversity, it is important for those in the sector to work
together to have a strong political voice for young children’s
education.
“Everybody knows
education is important, but early childhood education is the most
important of all, because it lays the groundwork for all future
learning.’
“New Zealand is a
world leader in early childhood education in many respects, but not
many people outside the sector know just how well we are doing. We
need to continue the work and continue to speak out for a quality
early childhood service that is accessible to all.”
The Early Education
Federation is committed to the strategic plan for early childhood
education – Nga Huarahi Arataki: Pathways to the Future which has
three goals – quality, accessibility and collaborative relationships
within the sector.
“These goals are
not just words – the plan gives those working in early childhood
something to unite around and work towards” says Ms Couch.
Almost every
organisation involved in education supports the strategic plan.
Implementing the plan involves moving to a fully qualified
registered workforce by 2012, working to lower ratios and group
size, changing services to make them more responsive to community
needs, and providing services that suit people from all cultures,
and in areas where services are inadequate to meet demand.
The Early Education
Federation plans to be an effective lobby group and will advise the
media on suitable contacts to comment on different aspects of early
childhood education, children’s development and children’s issues.
Member
organisations of the federation
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