ECE Update - Finally, a Government that Gets It
ECE Teachers to Lead, Not Leave
In a move that shocked cynics and delighted just about everyone else, the Government has announced sweeping reforms to support the early childhood education sector and for once, it’s not code for cuts.
Instead of gutting the pay parity scheme, Associate Education Minister David Seymour surprised the nation by not only retaining it but expanding it to guarantee fair pay for all ECE teachers, regardless of their centre’s funding model.
“For too long, we’ve treated our youngest citizens’ educators as glorified babysitters,” Seymour said, as jaws dropped across the political spectrum. “Today, that ends.”
The reforms include:
Mandatory pay parity across the sector, fully funded by the government - no more making centres choose between paying staff properly and keeping the lights on.
Student loan forgiveness for teachers who stay in the sector for five years.
A professional development fund, aimed at upskilling ECE educators without demanding unpaid time or personal expense.
A retention bonus for teachers who commit to three years in community and low-decile centres.
The Minister’s pivot appears to come after meeting with a group of ECE teachers and parents in a West Auckland centre, where a four-year-old handed him a crayon drawing captioned: “Please pay my teacher so she can buy fruit.”
Seymour was reportedly moved. “I realised we don’t need more consultants with lanyards. We need kaiako with dignity.”
The early childhood sector, long starved of recognition, has erupted in rare joy. One centre hung a sign reading: “For the first time in a decade, we believe you meant it.”
Unions are stunned - but in a good way. NZEI’s Zane McCarthy called it “a moment of justice.” Labour’s Jan Tinetti said she was “genuinely emotional.” The Greens’ Benjamin Doyle just muttered “finally” and walked off smiling.
Meanwhile, enrolments in ECE teacher training are spiking. Hope, it seems, is contagious.
This week, for once, the story of New Zealand’s early childhood sector ends not with burnout, resignation, or despair, but with something that’s been missing for far too long: respect.
📢 Government Press Release
Office of the Associate Minister for Early Learning, Equity & Actual Decency FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Re: Delivering Pay Parity and Dignity in Early Childhood Education
Minister David Seymour, alongside Education Minister Erica Stanford, has today announced a historic reform package to rebuild the early childhood education sector, starting with its most vital asset: its people.
“Early childhood educators deserve the same professional respect as our school teachers and that begins with proper pay,” Seymour said. “We’re not just keeping pay parity; we’re making it real, permanent, and funded.”
Key reforms include:
Guaranteed Pay Parity: All ECE teachers in licensed centres will be paid according to the primary school teacher scale, fully covered by additional government funding.
Workforce Investment Package: $120 million over four years toward retention bonuses, training support, and rural placement incentives.
Wellbeing & Retention Fund: To provide burnout prevention programmes and counselling support for frontline educators.
These measures reflect the Government’s commitment to education equity, long-term planning, and respect for whānau, teachers, and tamariki.
The future of early learning in Aotearoa is brighter - and better paid.
✉️ Letter to the Editor – From an Organisation
To the Editor,
Today is a turning point.
For years, those of us in the ECE sector have felt ignored, underpaid, and overworked. But this government, for the first time in my career, has heard us, believed us, and backed us.
The funding reforms announced today will change lives: for our teachers, who no longer have to choose between their passion and their survival; for our parents, who can expect consistency and quality and most of all, for our tamariki, who get the best possible start from educators who are respected and well-supported.
This isn’t charity. It’s investment - and it’s long overdue.
Let this be the start of a new covenant between government and education. One where we don’t just say children are our future, we show it.
— Amanda Russell CEO, Te Mātauranga Mokopuna Trust
✉️ Letter to the Editor – From a Teacher
Dear Editor,
I cried this morning. Not because I’m exhausted or underpaid or trying to ration petrol. I cried because, for the first time in 12 years, I feel seen.
The government’s decision to strengthen pay parity and fund it properly means I can stay in this job I love. It means I can afford the dentist. It means I might finally be able to stop working a second job on weekends.
But more than that, it means someone in power looked at our work, calming the tantrums, teaching language, nurturing resilience and said: “That matters.”
To every politician who voted for this, every staffer who worked through the numbers, every official who made the case: thank you.
And to every parent, please know, your child’s teacher has more hope now than she did yesterday. And that hope will echo through the classroom.
— Jess M. ECE Teacher, Christchurch