Education Minister Jan Tinetti has extended the 20 hours of free early child education a week to two-year-olds as part of the 2023 Budget.
It comes at a cost of $1.2 billion over four years and will be introduced from March 1 next year.
It is currently available to three to five-year-olds.
“This is a win-win for families with young children; it will reduce costs, remove barriers to early learning and allow parents to return to work or take on more hours if they can,” Tinetti said.
“It also recognises the fact that children who are involved in quality early learning benefit in many ways, including later in life.
“We are also increasing the rate of the subsidy and introducing additional conditions to help ensure the full value of the 20 Hours ECE subsidy is passed on to parents. This will enhance fee transparency for parents, helping them be better informed when choosing a service."
When asked why it wasn’t extended to children aged under two, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said they had to consider the capacity of centres and the influx of new children.
Tinetti said currently 66% of two-year-olds were in some form of ECE and they expected a 7% increase in attendance.
The Government is also providing an extra $322m available to ECE centres to lift pay for certified teachers and help them move to parity with kindergarten teachers.
The healthy school lunch programme is being extended until the end of next year, while $41m over five years will be provided for alternative education, to support students re-engage with learning.
SHARE ME