In 1988 a report was commissioned by the government, giving recommendations for the future of early childhood education (ECE) and care services. The Meade report maintained that to provide quality in education, appropriate caregiver qualifications must be upheld (Dalli, et al., 2011).

Smith (2010) explains that, between1999-2008, Labour, a centre left government party in New Zealand, made changes for early childhood care and education. The Labour party aimed to have 100% qualified staff in all early childhood education and care centres in New Zealand by 2012.                                                                                                                     

The election of National, the centre right government party, in November 2008, again made changes in the early childhood education and care sector in New Zealand. There was a shift in policy, with the target of 100% qualified now minimised to 80% (Smith, 2010).  

Here is a brief history of the New Zealand government’s policies around this issue.

1999- New Zealand became a Labour lead government for the fifth year running. Trevor Mallard and Steve Maharey were the Ministers of Education.

2002- Ngᾱ Huarahi Arataki: released a ten year strategic plan 2002-2012 including the targets for 100% qualified and registered teachers in teacher-led services.

2005- Persons responsible in an ECE service are required to have a recognised teaching qualification and be registered teachers.

2008- 50% of staff in teacher lead services required to have an early childhood recognised qualification plus teacher registration.

2008- The National governments new minister of education was appointed to Anne Tolley. The Ngᾱ Huarahi Arataki 100% qualified strategic plan was removed.

2009- 100% qualified, replaced and downgraded to 80% qualified. (beststart, n.d.).

Here are the National and Labour Government party policies from the previous election in 2014.

• National will continue to aim for 98 per cent of children starting school having participated in ECE in 2016
• Support an estimated 5,800 more children to attend ECE by June 2018.
• Provide a $53.6 million boost to subsidy rates to help ECE providers meet rising costs
• Implement the Early Learning Information system to provide valuable information about ECE to help maximise learning outcomes
• Ensure funding is fair and sustainable by:
• 1.    Retaining 20 hours ECE.
• 2.    Working with ECE providers to reduce bureaucracy. (more here) (Palmer, 2014).

·         Labour will 

• introduce 25 hours of Free Early Childhood Education for New Zealand’s three, four and five year old children, an increase from 20 hours
• The policy will save all families with a three, four or five year old in ECE full-time or nearly full-time around $25 each week
• Labour will extend the policy of Free Early Childhood Education for the most vulnerable children earlier than three years of age
• Labour will restore over time National’s funding for highly qualified ECE centres. We will work with the sector to reinstate the policy of 100 percent qualified staff in all teacher-led services
• We will build more ECE centres in high-need areas so there are enough places for kids who need them. (more here) (Palmer, 2014). 

Best Start. (n.d). History of early childhood education in the context of the union movement. Retrieved from www.beststart.org.nz/history/

Dalli, C., White, E.J., Rockel, J., Duhn, I., Bunchanan, E., Davidson, S., … Wang, B. (2011). Quality early childhood education for under-two-year-olds: What should it look like? Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/ECE/Quality_ECE_for_under-two-year-olds/965_QualityECE_Web-22032011.pdf

Palmer, S. (2014). Election 2014- Party Policies- Early childhood Education. Retrieved from http://www.interest.co.nz/news/70566/election-2014-party-policies-early-childhood-education  

Smith, A.B. (2010). Defining quality- implementing and holding onto it. Retrieved from www.beststart.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Anne-Smith- NZEI-ECE-Hui-Oct-2013.