Early childhood teachers fear rule overhaul will put children at risk – union probe

Teachers of young children told the survey they feared the rule review would put children at risk.

The Te Riu Roa Education Institute teachers’ union said 73 per cent of the 2,774 teachers who responded agreed they were concerned about the health and safety implications of the government’s review of regulations for the sector.

Only eight percent said they were not worried.

It is not yet known what the Ministry of Regulations’ review of early childhood education rules will change, although a group lobbying for employers is pushing for wide-ranging changes. The ministry is expected to present a report to the government in November or December.

The survey report also noted that respondents were asked what concerns they would have if regulations on safety checks such as sleeping baby checks, diaper changes and the use of sunscreen were abolished.

“This question received an overwhelming response that would require in-depth analysis beyond the scope of this report. The number of responses indicating serious injury or death was alarming. This demonstrates the huge risks associated with deregulation in the early childhood education sector,” he said.

A respondent quoted in the report said he would be concerned “that the environment would not be safe and that if these safety controls were not in place, it would be more likely that children would be injured or even killed.”

Another said: “Death. Whānau need to know this data is accurate. We are talking about tamariki, taonga, the future… Every living being deserves this respect.”

However, most respondents agreed that they are “subject to increasingly complex regulations that increase their workload.”

The report indicated that 93 percent of respondents agreed that increased workload causes more stress, and 82 percent disagreed that a minimum teacher-to-child ratio was realistic.

“There was also a noticeable increase in the number of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that ‘currently regulated minimum indicators do not provide the highest quality learning environment for tamariki’ – 93.4%, compared to 89.7% last year” – found.

One respondent was quoted as saying: “Over the past six months, I have heard first-hand from at least a dozen teachers who have wanted to leave the profession due to the stress they are under, the workload and the lack of support for children with additional issues.” needs, including behavior.

Another said: “As an administrator, I was increasingly asked to cover kaiako absences when replacements could not be found. This both impacts my ability to do my own job and worries me as I am untrained and don’t usually work on an ad hoc basis, so I’m not always aware of the processes that need to be followed.”

The report found that respondents working in private settings were more likely than those working in community services to be thinking about leaving the sector – 36% to 28%.

Private sector respondents were also more likely to say their workload had increased, resulting in increased levels of stress at work, from 66 to 58 percent.

The 2,774 respondents included 1,081 kindergarten teachers, 987 teachers from private early childhood institutions and 471 from community institutions.