NZEI Te Riu Roa has welcomed Labour’s commitment to lift quality across early childhood education by achieving pay parity for teachers, restoring targets towards 100% qualified teachers, strengthening ratio-based qualification rules, and improving oversight and transparency.
Early childhood teacher and NZEI Te Riu Roa early childhood education representative Zane McCarthy says Labour’s vision aligns with what parents and teachers have been calling for.
“Labour’s commitment is a win for early childhood education and puts tamariki back at the heart of the system,” says Mr McCarthy.
“Achieving pay parity recognises the vital work our early childhood teachers do and helps retain skilled educators in the sector. Together with restoring the goal of 100% qualified teachers and improving ratios, these changes will ensure every child gets the quality education they deserve.
“Under the Coalition Government, early childhood education has been treated like a market commodity rather than an essential public good. We need every political party to match Labour’s commitment and treat high-quality early childhood education as a priority,” he added.
In its recently released policy document, Labour said its “early childhood education policy is built on a simple principle: ECE is not merely childcare or a commodity for families who can afford it. It is a public good that gives tamariki the foundations for learning, belonging, and lifelong wellbeing.
“The goal is a system in which tamariki are safe, supported, and challenged to learn; whānau can access affordable provision that reflects their culture and circumstances; and kaiako have the professional recognition, pay, qualifications, and working conditions they deserve.”
Since the Coalition Government was elected in 2023, it has pursued a reform programme that reinforces a free-market ECE model where profit is increasingly prioritised over quality. Current proposals on the table include cutting funding for higher numbers of qualified teachers and reducing teacher pay.
In a 2025 NZEI Te Riu Roa survey, 79% of teachers reported that current regulated minimum teacher-to-child ratios are inadequate and prevent them from meeting health and safety requirements. More than 90% expressed concern that these staffing levels fail to support the learning conditions necessary for quality education.
An NZEI Te Riu Roa survey of parents released in September found that almost all respondents agreed high-quality early childhood education should be a non-negotiable right in Aotearoa – publicly funded, accessible, low cost, culturally appropriate, and meet children's individual learning needs.
In addition, 92% of parents supported establishing a public early childhood education system that is free to attend, just like schools.
The Green Party’s early childhood education policy commits to shifting to greater public provision and better supporting kaiako to ensure every child gets the start in life they deserve.
In its Platform for Change, NZEI Te Riu Roa is calling for cross-party commitments to investment in quality early childhood education. It is also urging parties to deliver four other key actions over the next five years to boost the quality of teaching and learning for tamariki:
- Fund a teacher aide in every class
- Value educators better
- Uphold Te Tiriti in the curriculum and wider education system, and
- Create an independent Curriculum and Assessment Council.
ENDS
Note to editors:
See where each party stands on early childhood education.
Early Childhood Education Parents and Whānau Survey Report 2026.