The importance of having qualified teachers in ECE services

Recently, an international study highlighted the importance of having qualified teachers in ECE services. Amongst the findings in the study, undertaken by economists at Harvard University, were the many benefits to children participating in quality ECE services - in their school years and beyond.

The study followed up on 12,000 adults, who as children in the 1980s were part of a well known education experiment undertaken in Tennessee. Revisiting these ‘children’, now in their 30s, Harvard economist Raj Chetty and his colleagues discovered that the legacy of kindergarten had re-emerged.

Students who had attended kindergarten - which provides an educational programme - were more likely to go to university. As adults, they were less likely to become single parents and more likely to be save for retirement. Perhaps most striking, they were earning more.

As providers of quality early childhood education, we know the difference kindergarten can make for children and their families. Quality ECE has significant benefits for children, not just in the short term but in long term too. We are talking about the future benefits to society as a whole. Funding early childhood education is an investment in our future, and the Harvard study highlights this.

The evidence is compelling and begs the question why the Government is even considering cutting costs to this most vital part of the education sector?

Clare Wells is the chief executive of New Zealand Kindergartens. Passionate about ECE and an advocate of high quality early childhood education services for our youngest citizens, Clare has been influential in shaping the direction of ECE in Aotearoa New Zealand. Clare has extensive experience in early childhood education (ECE) working as a teacher, policy analyst, and government advisor.