The government subsidy used to provide 20 hours a week of free early childhood education may be scrapped, which is raising concerns.
It's part of a review process in which it's understood the government wants to redirect the money to help early childhood teachers achieve pay parity.
Early Childhood Council chief executive Simon Laube says under the process there is no new money to bridge the pay parity gap, which raises the question: Where is the money coming from?
"You're only working with the existing money an,d as far as we are concerned, that is pretty tight under the current system."
Laube says under the proposal money will be split to subsidise teacher salaries and operating costs. Parents and centres will have to foot the bill for any funding shortfall.
"At the moment we have three types of bulk funding for early childhood centres. There are 20 hours early childhood education, there are subsidies for children under two and there is a subsidy for children two and over. So those three types of funding would go entirely."
Will the free 20 hours of ECE be gone?
Ministry rejects claim
"The money would go into two new funding policies. One would be called the teacher salary subsidy and the other one would be the operating subsidy."
But in a statement, the Ministry of Education rejects the council's claim.
According to ministry group manager policy John Brooke. the aim of the review is to further progress pay parity for ECE teachers in education and care services with their kindergarten counterparts.
"That’s an issue of fairness and also responds to sector concerns about teacher recruitment and retention, and to the limitations of the current ‘parity funding’ rates to allow pay parity to be rolled out to all services.
"Over the past three years, the government has put $587 million to improve pay for ECE teachers in education and care services through opt-in funding rates. This review will identify the best way to align that funding with the actual teacher salary costs of each individual education and care service so that all certificated teachers can benefit from pay parity.
"Preserving the differential funding approach of the 20 hours ECE is one of the principles that underpin the proposal. The proposal would not change the funding rules relating to 20 hours ECE in relation to services not charging parents compulsory fees for these hours. The proposal maintains the intent of 20 Hours ECE by proposing that the government fully fund the teacher salary subsidy and provide a higher operational subsidy rate as these relate to 20 hours ECE hours."
