Rosslyn Noonan, Human Rights Commissioner

Address to the New Zealand Kindergarten Association Conference

 

Quality Early Childhood Care and Education: Every Child's Right

Madam President, Janice Bromwell, Members of the Board, Chief Executive Clare Wells, Life Members, Kindergarten Association representatives from across New Zealand, distinguished guests and exhibitors – my warmest greetings.

Thank you so much for inviting me to contribute to NZK’s annual conference.

You meet at a time of very significant challenges to early childhood education and care in Aotearoa, New Zealand, but also a time which offers some real opportunities. The conference theme of ‘Participation: policy and practice’ encapsulates both the challenges and the opportunities.

I particularly welcomed the invitation to participate because, as members of NZK, you are part of a movement that has had a profound impact on the development and wellbeing of New Zealand children for over 110 years. As the kindergarten movement developed, it incorporated the elements that we know today are vital to the provision of high quality early childhood education and care:

• partnership between community and government

• free access

• qualified teachers; and

• parental involvement.

Your earliest beginnings resonate with the challenges we face today.

When the first kindergarten opened in June 1889 at St Andrews Church Hall in Dunedin, New Zealand was still in the depth of a dreadful economic depression. But a handful of people – including the Rev. Rutherford Wardell, Louisa Darymple, Rachel Reynolds and Lavinia Kelsey – recognised a responsibility to the ‘waifs and strays’, to the poorest children in their midst.

Today we know that every child, whatever their heritage or their circumstances, benefits from, to quote the Ruahine Kindergarten Association,

“... learning through having fun, developing independence, becoming confident, early literacy and numeracy, great varieties of experience, learning to cooperate, developing social skills ...”

That is: every child benefits from the wonderful experiences available at a kindergarten or other quality early childhood service.

But, over a century on from that first kindergarten, we still can’t ensure every one of our children gets a “great start”, whether in kindergarten, Kohanga Reo, Playcentre or a childcare centre.

As Chief Human Rights Commissioner I am required by law, as set out in the Human Rights Act 1993:

• to advocate and promote respect and an understanding and appreciation of human rights in New Zealand; and

• to encourage the maintenance and development of harmonious relations between individuals and among the diverse groups in New Zealand.

By human rights the Act means those civil and political, economic, social and cultural rights adopted as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the nations of the world in Paris in 1948, after the horrors of the Second World War. Those rights and responsibilities have subsequently become international law through the development of Covenants and Conventions, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Children’s rights are commonly viewed as falling into three categories: provision rights, protection rights and participant rights . Each of these rights applies to the different spheres of everyday life – at home, at school, at work, or at leisure.

Provision rights include the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to free education, the right to adequate health resources and the right to legal and social services. Protection rights include protection from abuse and neglect, protection from bullying, protection from discrimination, and safety within the justice system. Participant rights include the right to freedom of expression and the right to participate in public life.

Article 29 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child defines what ‘the education of the child’ should be ‘directed to’:

“1) States parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:

(a) The development of the child’s personality, talents, and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential;

(b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations’

(c) The development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilisations different from his or her own’

(d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin;

(e) The development of respect for the natural environment”.

I want to acknowledge that New Zealand’s early childhood education sector is already providing quality services that rank amongst the very best in the world, and that Te Whāriki reflects the human rights standards for education set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Alongside Te Whāriki, other strengths of the early childhood sector and indeed of New Zealand kindergartens include their diversity – reflecting recognition that one way will never be appropriate for all families – combined with strong, common, minimum standards for staffing; including qualification requirements, the physical environment, and the wellbeing and safety of the children.

Today, early childhood education in New Zealand has become an integral part of the right to education. The NZCER Longitudinal Competent Children’s study has provided conclusive, empirical evidence that good quality early childhood education has a lasting impact on children’s achievement throughout primary school.

That, and other evidence, makes a very strong case for arguing that if, as a nation, we want to reduce the shameful inequalities in achievement that appear entrenched in our compulsory schools sector, then the most effective thing to do would be to ensure sufficient provision of high quality early childhood services so every child can participate. It is not the whole answer but it is a crucial part of what is required.

On Wednesday last week, I appeared before the Education and Science Select Committee to present the Human Rights Commission’s submission on the Education Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2010 .

The Commission’s brief submission focused primarily on Part 1, clause 18 of the Bill which will exempt limited attendance centres (LACs) from early childhood education licensing standards. These are the services in gymns, shopping malls and other places where a parent or a caregiver can leave a child for up to two hours. The Commission highlighted concerns that sufficient protections may not remain in place to protect the physical and emotional safety of young children attending such centres.

I made the point that, infants and young children are completely dependent on others, primarily adults, for all their needs. This stage of high dependency requires other people to ensure that the full and indivisible rights of the young child are met. These rights include provision of the basic necessities of life – food, shelter, love and protection. While there is recognition of the duties of parents, guardians and caregivers, there is also a State obligation to ensure institutions conform to prescribed standards in their care and protection of children.

What concerned me about the Bill, coming so soon after the Budget cuts to funding of early childhood services with 100% qualified staff, was the lack of understanding it appeared to display of what is required to protect infants and very young children, and ensure their wellbeing.

Both developments reveal some troubling realities:

• early childhood education is still not seen as an integral component of the right to education

• a growing perception that caring for a group of young children is unskilled work

• failure to recognise that for very young children care and education are inseparable, as Te Whāriki makes clear, the relationships and the environments that children experience have a direct impact on their development and their learning

• pressure to get people off benefits and into the labour market could see the wellbeing of children at risk by lowering of standards to get more and cheaper services.

After the Select Committee I read through your conference programme and my spirits lifted as I realised that, in this conference you were tackling the major challenges facing not only early childhood services but our schools as well.

New Zealand’s rapidly diversifying population is already reflected more strongly amongst children and young people than it is amongst adults.

In the 2006 Census, New Zealanders identified their ethnicity as follows:

European 2,609,592 67%

Māori 565,329 14.6%

New Zealander 429,429 11.1%

Asian 354,553 9.2%

Pacific 265,974 6.9%

Other 36,237 0.9%

Young people are even more diverse. The ethnicity of New Zealand children attending primary and secondary school 2009 were:

European 424,242 55.8%

Māori 166,998 22%

Pacific 73,081 9.6%

Asian 68,784 9.0%

Other 18,225 2.4%

There has been a marked increase in multiple ethnicities. In the 2006 census only 10% of all New Zealanders identified with more than one ethnic group. By contrast, 25% of all babies born in 2008 had more than one ethnicity. Two thirds of Māori babies and almost one half of Pacific babies belonged to multiple ethnic groups, as did nearly a third of babies of European and Asian descent.

National ethnic population projections to 2026 reflect these changes. In 2010, Statistics New Zealand projected that New Zealand’s Asian and Pacific populations will grow fastest.

There are enormous challenges but also wonderful opportunities when working with such diverse communities. This generation of children will grow up with a first-hand experience of what it means to be citizens of the world, while being secure in having a place to belong, and confident in who they are – having a turangawaeawe, a place to stand.

The workshop focus yesterday on engaging with families and their communities, affirming their heritage, cultures and languages as well as the importance of their involvement in the education of their children, is evidence of your understanding that children have to feel confident in who they. Those workshops also reflect recognition that, without the love and support and active involvement of their families, children cannot flourish, and families need the support and encouragement that comes from engaging with early childhood services.

Today you are showcasing the innovative initiatives that demonstrate kindergartens’ responsiveness to the families and communities they serve and to the most vulnerable amongst them.

Earlier this year I was given an opportunity to describe my ‘ideal’ early childhood service.

Actually, my ideal starts with a full year’s paid parental leave which can be shared by both parents. While on parental leave there would be contact with the early childhood service.

The neighbourhood early child centre would offer a flexible range of programmes:

• beginning with new mothers’ and fathers’ groups

• offering crèche facilities and playgroups

• extending to all day programmes.

It would have fully qualified staff, reflecting the diversity of the families in that community and at least a third would be men.

 

It would:

• have pods to provide for Māori immersions groups and, as appropriate, Samoan, Tongan and other Pacific language nests

• involve people from other communities, so all children would have their mother tongue and culture affirmed by participating

• enable all the children to begin learning Māori and to become excited about the possibility of knowing more than one language.

At the centre there would be regular clinics with a nurse available, perhaps weekly, and other family support services, as appropriate.

A full-time community liaison staff member would be essential.

And of course, its programmes would have as their foundation the wonderful Te Whāriki and an explicit commitment to being a place where rights and responsibilities are recognised, reflected and lived.

At this time it is more important than ever that government, the public and our communities hear strong, compelling cases for building on the great early childhood services we have - for extending their availability and their accessibility.

You are already doing a lot, but I want to ask more of you.

You are the oldest early childhood service in the country. Over 110 years you have developed, expanded and adapted. You have much to be proud of, much to be confident about.

You voices need to be heard now:

• advocating persuasively for our youngest children, their parents and caregivers

• making the compelling case for universal, free, quality early childhood services and

• insisting on a national early childhood development plan that prioritises development of early childhood services in our poorest communities

• arguing for a long-term perspective - 15-20 years – when assessing the value of investing in children and their services.

The Human Rights Commission is undertaking a comprehensive review of how well human rights are recognised and respected in New Zealand in 2010. A draft chapter on the right to education is on our website, www.hrc.co.nz and while the time for comment on that chapter is over, we would still welcome any views you have. The chapter on the rights of children and young people goes on line this coming week. In late January 2011 New Zealand will be examined by a committee of experts at the United Nations, the Committee on the rights of the child, on how well New Zealand has implemented the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Commission will shortly be releasing our advice to that committee on what the key issues are and what should be done about them. NZK could also comment to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Quality early childhood care and education is a crucial element of the right to education and the right of every child in Aotearoa New Zealand.

To make that right a reality for every child is a responsibility of the government, but it is not the government’s responsibility alone. It’s up to all of us.

Kia ora tatou.