Country Kindy has been given permission to stay open for another 12 weeks, at least.
I’ve been fascinated by this story since we got wind of it at the end of last week. If you haven't been across it - last Thursday, it was announced that the Ministry of Education was going to close down Country Kindy from Monday.
Then on Monday, it was announced that the kindy was taking court action to overturn the decision.
And yesterday, it was announced that David Seymour had got involved in his capacity as an Education Minister, and the Ministry had agreed to allow it to stay open for the next 12 weeks while the court action takes place.
Good. Because this situation is ridiculous.
First of all, imagine the impact on the parents of those 22 kids who were told on a Thursday that from Monday - they need to find alternative care for their kids.
Good luck trying to get kids into an early childhood centre with two days’ notice. Even in a place like Auckland with heaps of ECE’s on offer, it's hard. Never mind trying to find that in Manawatu, somewhere between Fielding and Hunterville - I don't think there's going to be a lot of kindies there.
To give you an example, in Auckland I was on a waiting list for 18 months - until I cancelled it because I couldn't be bothered waiting anymore. Imagine what it's like somewhere between Fielding and Hunterville.
Imagine the impact on those parents, imagine the impact on their workplaces because one of them won't be coming to work with a pre-schooler at home, and imagine the impact on those kids - who just want to go to kindy and see their friends.
But worst of all of this is why the kindy was shut down. It was shut down because it failed to meet seven regulations.
These include my personal favourite three:
- Condition 1- "a philosophy statement [that] guides the service's operation";
- Condition 5- "demonstrate that adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships";
- Condition 6 - "The practices of adults providing education and care demonstrate an understanding of children’s learning and development, and knowledge of relevant theories and practice in early childhood education".
The teachers weren't beating the kids, they weren’t starving them or locking them outdoors all day, there wasn't a health and safety issue. They just didn’t write a philosophy statement, which means they need to get shut down.
This is ridiculous.
This is also a perfect example of A- why the early childhood sector desperately needs that red tape review that David Seymour's doing and B- what’s gone wrong with the Ministry of Education.
Because apparently to them, paperwork and philosophy statements are more important than kids just being able to go to kindy.
So thank goodness this place is still open, and here’s hoping the Ministry of Education gets a spanking in court.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show HERE - where this article was sourced.
10 comments:
The philosophy of the MOE seems similar to that of Oranga Tamariki.
The childrens 'care' is at the bottom of the list and the policy/ideology being followed is at the top.
We have all witnessed the outcomes when chidrens 'care' is set aside for the insistance of 'policy' adherence......
I suspect over the decades there have been a myriad highly effective motherly/homely kindy staff who would be dumbstruck if required to specifically demonstarte an understanding of relevant theories of early childhood education.
i suppose if they were an Auckland kindy catering for similaer some parent lawyer (or journalist) would provide a glib statement. or if a kura, some artful activist.
Heather the kindy also wasn't maori' enough. This waa reported on The Platform. Do little toddlers who have nothing to do with the maori culture really need this forced down their throats? Nz is very messed up.
Here is another example of what the Ministry did not approve of:-
The office also said an affirmation of “children’s individual culture, language and identity is not yet consistently reflected in the curriculum”.
“Partnerships in learning with tamariki and whānau Māori are not clearly evident, and the service has not yet made clear progress in line with previous ERO recommendations in this area.”
The office listed three “improvement actions” for the centre.
They were to establish “culturally responsive practices throughout the centre curriculum”; ensure te reo and tikanga Māori were valued and integral parts of the curriculum; and develop understanding of effective internal evaluation.
It's a good article, Heather, thanks. You expose a ridiculous situation.
Noting that "kindy" caters for very young children dependent on constant supervision, we should recall the basic cause of the problem, which is the almost universal need for mothers to supplement the father's income. When wages are at a truly liveable level there's no need for her to leave the house for so long.
This is the fundamental distortion, yet nobody is studying it for a solution, we just prop up the system that's causing it. Among all the claims on wages, and especially now with inflation up, when we consider costly necessities thoughts turn to rent or mortgage, food and petrol.
But why is that? Jobs were once abundant, wages gave plenty to live well and save. Now young people cannot afford a house, mortgage and rent are too high for most, jobs fewer, petrol dear, cigarettes exorbitant, (some) beer cheap. To state the obvious.
But this was not always so, and well within living memory. So how do we restore prosperity?
Richard, you are looking back nostalgically at the way society operated until two things happened. One, women wanted to expand their horizons and have financial independence. Two, the two-income family became the norm and this was reflected in property values. This in turn led to houses changing from being places where you raise a family to 'investments' that you expect to make a profit on in a short timespan.
My generation (1950s) may look back with a degree of nostalgia at a simpler world where almost everybody could 'make it' but those days will never return.
I have learned recently, in this discussion on working mothers that, couples buying a first home now wish to have a high standard in the furnishings and chattels right from the start. No second hand stuff or lower quality.
In our first home we had everything second hand and even to begin with in our new house, no carpets, curtains, wallpaper or paint. As we could afford it we purchased these items and did interior decorating ourselves.The children were small so didn't care less and we were pleased to have a low mortgage.
I have a very poor opinion of preschools since they seem to make very little attempt to have children do anything else but free play. The food is poor nutrition and the philosophy of child-centered which means poor discipline and lack of children learning self control or manners let alone anything remotely academic.
What in Maori child rearing culture was so outstanding that it has to be forcible pushed on us . Our education system needs to get rid of its Progressive ideology for lower decile children, including Maori to achieve academically as well as higher decile children of comparable intelligence..
none of the three items were the reason for censure. the detailed reasons are mentioned in the ero findings. it's about failure to engage with ideology as expected. the key failings are around 'culture, language, identity, partnership, whananu, etc.'
On the basis of all this information it is obvious that the kindy should remain open and the Ministry should be shut down.
@Margaret -
"couples buying a first home now wish to have a high standard in the furnishings and chattels right from the start. No second hand stuff or lower quality."
This is not true, perhaps in a few anecdotes you have heard but there is no evidence this is widespread.
What first home buyers are wanting is a house that isn't full of mould or rotting away, doesn't need it's roof replaced immediately, and the like. Basically, a house that is safe and isn't going to make them sick.
My husband and I bought our first home last year and know many others in the same boat. We haven't bought a single new thing for the house, being given my parents old furniture instead and gratefully accepting it. We are not the exceptions, my generation in fact have low standards because we must.
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