Early Childhood Education Policy in Aotearoa/New Zealand: The Creation
of the 20 Hours Free Programme
Prepared by Brenda K Bushouse, MPA, PhD | July 2008 with funding from the sponsors
of the Ian Axford (New Zealand) Fellowships in Public Policy
Brenda Bushouse is an Associate Professor
of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Massachusetts,
where she teaches courses on public policy and public and nonprofit
management. She has a substantive interest in early childhood policy,
and her forthcoming book Universal Preschool in the United States:
Policy Change, Stability, and the Pew Charitable Trusts analyzes
the experiences of six states that passed legislation to publicly
fund preschool education.
During Brenda's Ian Axford Fellowship exchange to New Zealand she
was based at the Ministry of Education, where she had an opportunity
to compare the creation of publicly funded preschool in New Zealand
with the US experience.
Abstract
The New Zealand government's total spending on early childhood education
increased from $409 million in the year ended June 2002 to an estimated
$771 million in the year ended June 2007. This translates to an 88 percent
increase, which is a remarkable investment. In the July 2007 the 20 Hours
Free Programme began to provide 20 hours of free early childhood education
to three- and four-year-olds in teacher-led early childhood services.
This programme led to an additional $375 million investment in early childhood
education. With the 20 Hours Free Programme, the New Zealand government
significantly ratcheted up what already was an enviable level of early
childhood investment and made a bold statement that it believes early
childhood education is important enough for the government to remove financial
barriers to participation for all children.
This report describes the creation of the 20 Hours Free programme within
the historical context of early childhood policy in New Zealand. It provides
an historical narrative of the actors involved, the timing of events,
and competing interests. The report identifies wedge issues to be considered
in future policymaking and concludes with recommendation for future research.
Table
of contents
Acknowledgments
Executive Summary
Introduction
1. The early childhood education policy community
2. Early childhood policy waves
3. The dream revisited: ECE rises on the agenda
4. Political gaze settles on 20 hours free
5. Launching free
6. First year implementation and the future
Bibliography
axford2008_bushouse.pdf (451kb)
