Cases of abuse, neglect, lack of supervision and poor health and safety arise in information released on complaints against early childhood education (ECE) services.
A new report was released today by the Ministry of Education of all the complaints received in regards to ECE services in 2017.
Out of the 339 complaints received regarding early learning services and certificated playgroups, 297 of them were investigated and 42 of them did not require investigation.
Of the 297 complaints 166 of the services were upheld, meaning standards were not been met by the service or improvement was required in particular areas.
The Ministry has suspended the licences of six services and cancelled the licences of nine services as a result of the complaints.
Some cases investigated included:
· Allegations that a teacher was posting photos and a video of children on social media with rude comments about the children, and was drunk at work. This resulted in the termination of the staff member's employment.
· A child was found unresponsive and hanging by a ribbon around the neck. The service was placed on a provisional licence while an investigation was carried out and has now returned to a full license.
· A teacher was found to have bitten a child as part of managing their behaviour. The teacher was later stood down and consequently resigned. The service amended their child protection policy and underwent an internal evaluation.
· Allegations of a child being smacked and children at the service sometimes threatened with a slipper. The service was placed on a provisional licence while changes were made and has returned to a full licence.
“Every complaint we receive is treated seriously. We assess each complaint, and if a service falls short of the standards we impose conditions for improvement or shut the service down,” says deputy secretary sector enablement and support Katrina Casey.
“It’s important that parents and caregivers can have confidence that their children are learning in a safe, well-run early childhood service. An effective complaints and incidents process is part of this.”
"Services are legally required to have processes in place so parents and whānau can complain or ask a question if they’re not happy with any aspect of their child’s education and care."
“We continue to look at ways to improve our management of complaints and to use the insights from our investigations to improve our services.”
“Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of our children," Casey says.
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