Rising ECE participation for Māori and Pasifika

Education Minister Hekia Parata has welcomed an increase in the proportion of Māori and Pasifika children participating in early childhood education (ECE) before starting school.

“Between March 2012 and March 2015, Māori ECE participation increased by 3.5 percentage points and Pasifika ECE participation by 4.8 percentage points. The Māori participation rate now stands at 93.8 per cent and the Pasifika rate at 91 per cent. The overall rate is 96.1 per cent, up 0.2 percentage points on a year ago and 1.4 percentage points on March 2012.                 

“The increase in the enrolment rate is especially pleasing for Māori and Pasifika,” says Ms Parata. “We know that good quality early childhood education helps kids achieve at school and beyond.

“However, there’s still work to be done. The kids we haven’t reached yet are generally the ones from vulnerable communities, who stand to benefit most from ECE.”

Ms Parata says significant gains have been achieved by working more deliberately and locally with Māori and Pasifika communities.

Since 2007/2008 government spending on ECE has almost doubled to $1.6 billion.

“Investing in ECE and working with local communities to raise ECE participation is vital to ensure children get a great start to their learning,” says Ms Parata. 

Notes:

Data on ECE participation rates is available here.