Early childhood education needs investment and more qualified teachers to give tamariki the best start in life, not the National party’s proposed new skills assessments, developmental milestones, and digital screen bans, says NZEI Te Riu Roa.
“What is being proposed does not address the real needs of tamariki, whānau, kaiako, and kaimahi,” says NZEI Te Riu Roa President Ripeka Lessels.
“Imposing skills checks and standardised testing on tamariki completely misses the mark. What value is there in mandating arbitrary benchmarks for young children? It will only create stress and an administrative burden on already stretched teachers rather than foster the rich, play-based learning environments they need.”
“The suggestion that screen use is common in early childhood education is offensive to the teaching workforce who dedicate their time to creating learning environments that meet the needs of tamariki, underpinned by our excellent world-leading, bicultural curriculum, Te Whāriki.”
Since the Coalition Government came to power in 2023, it has pursued an aggressive reform programme reinforcing a free-market ECE model where profit is increasingly prioritised over quality. This includes current proposals on the table to cut funding for higher numbers of qualified teachers, and to cut teacher pay.
The consequences of this approach are clear.
Results from a 2025 NZEI Te Riu Roa survey revealed that one-third of early childhood educators had often considered leaving the sector in the previous six months. The top reasons cited were burnout, high workloads, a lack of sector direction, and uncertainty regarding pay parity.
“Instead of making hollow political distractions like preschool skills checks and screen bans, the focus should be on improving the quality of early childhood education,” Mrs Lessels adds. “If politicians truly want to make a difference, they must invest in ECE and guarantee that every centre has enough qualified teachers.”
Sally Griffin, a kindergarten head teacher and NZEI Te Riu Roa member, noted that the current regulated minimum teacher-to-child ratios are inadequate.
“If this government wants to make a real difference to the quality of teaching and learning for tamariki in Aotearoa, they need to invest in supporting more students who are training to become ECE teachers, support pay parity for our teaching workforce, and put money into better learning support.
“Our assessment processes already measure tamariki progress in ECE through rich learning stories. The Minister of Education needs to take guidance from ECE teachers and academics who are highly trusted by whānau.”
According to the NZEI Te Riu Roa survey, 79% of teachers reported that current ratios prevent educators 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.
In its Platform for Change 2026, NZEI Te Riu Roa is calling for cross-party commitments to five key actions over the next five years to boost the quality of teaching and learning for tamariki:
- Funding a teacher aide in every class
- Investing in quality early childhood education
- Valuing educators better
- Upholding Te Tiriti in the curriculum and wider education system, and
- Creating an independent Curriculum and Assessment Council.