Main heading

Licensed Services and Licence-Exempt Groups 2007

This report summarises the results from the July 2007 annual census of children and staff at licensed and/or chartered early childhood education (ECE) services and licence-exempt ECE groups. It includes statistics indicating the number of licensed services and licence-exempt ECE groups, number of children enrolled by ethnicity and age, and language of communication used by teaching staff. Statistics on the number of staff who are qualified and registered and/or studying towards an ECE qualification are also noted.

Please note that these results are from the week immediately prior to the introduction of the Free ECE policy.


1. Number of services

As at 1 July 2007:
  • there were 4,479 early childhood education services, a decrease of 0.4% (17) from 1 July 2006
  • there were 3,750 licensed and/or chartered services, an increase of 2.3% (85) from 1 July 2006
  • there were 729 licence-exempt ECE groups, a decrease of 12.3% (102) from 1 July 2006
  • the number of early childhood education services has increased by 4.6% (199) since 2003 (see Table 1).
  •  

Table 1 - Number of early childhood education services by service type as at 1 July (2003 to 2007)

Service Type 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Difference
    2003 - 07
 Number  %
Licensed Services
Kindergarten 609 614 618 619 618 9 1.5
Playcentre 482 481 482 474 466 -16 -3.3
Education and care 1,673 1,730 1,754 1,842 1,932 259 15.5
Homebased network 190 192 201 202 227 37 19.5
Kōhanga reo 526 513 501 486 470 -56 -10.6
Correspondence School 1 1 1 1 1 N/C N/C
Casual-education and care 42 43 41 41 36 -6 -14.3
Sub-total 3,523 3,574 3,598 3,665 3,750 227 6.4
Licence-exempt ECE groups
Playgroups 562 599 641 667 608 46 8.2
Pacific Island Early Childhood Groups 121 113 106 93 62 -59 -48.8
Nga Puna Kohungahunga 32 43 49 41 30 -2 -6.3
Playcentres 30 32 31 22 22 -8 -26.7
Licence-exempt Kōhanga Reo 12 13 11 8 7
-5 -41.7
Sub-total 757 800 838 831 729 -28 -3.7
Total
4,280 4,374 4,436 4,496 4,479 199 4.6
  • Of the 3,749 (excludes Correspondence School) licensed and/or chartered early childhood education services, 65.6% (2,460) are community based. The remaining 34.4% (1,289) are privately owned services.
  • Of the 1,968 education and care services (including casual-education and care), which account for 52.5% of all licensed services as at 1 July 2007, 41.7%  (820) are community based and 58.3% (1,148) are privately owned.
  • Of the 227 homebased networks, 37.9% (86) are community based and 62.1% (141) are privately owned.

2. Enrolments in early childhood education

Table 1 above presents a complete count of all services that were open and operating during the census period. Four licensed services were newly opened at the time of census week and therefore had no enrolments. Note that we did not have data for 9 licensed services and 34 licence-exempt groups in the 2007 collection.

These statistics provide a headcount of enrolments. If a child is enrolled at more than one early childhood service, he or she will be counted more than once. As at 1 July 2007:

  • there were 190,907 children enrolled in early childhood education, an increase of 6.1% (10,907) since 2003 (see Table 2)
  • there were 171,138 children enrolled in licensed early childhood education services, an increase of 6.8% (10,965) since 2003
  • there were 19,769 children enrolled in licence-exempt ECE groups, a decrease of 0.3% (58) since 2003.
  •  

Table 2 - Enrolments in early childhood education by service type as at 1 July (2003 to 2007)

Service Type
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Difference
    2003 - 07
 Number
Licensed Services
Kindergarten 45,109 45,287 44,920 44,435 43,695 -1,414 -3.1
Playcentre 15,200 15,440 15,059 14,888 14,664 -536 -3.5
Education and care 78,967 81,096 83,889 86,059 91,733 12,766 16.2
Homebased network 9,857 9,922 9,770 9,802 11,073 1,486 15.5
Kōhanga reo 10,319 10,418 10,070 9,493 9,236 -1,083 -10.5
Correspondence School 991 922 813 577 737 -254 -25.6
Casual-education and care
Sub-total 160,173 163,085 164,521 165,254 171,138 10,965 6.8
Licence-exempt ECE groups
Playgroups 16,250 17,744 18,042 17,476 18,058 1,808 11.1
Pacific Island Early Childhood Groups 2,573 2,392 1,864 1,179 964 -1,609 -62.5
Nga Puna Kohungahunga 408 571 519 289 343 -65 -15.9
Playcentres 466 530 436 167 335 -131 -28.1
Licence-exempt Kōhanga Reo 130 191 146 89 69 -61 -46.9
Sub-total 19,827 21,428 21,007 19,200 19,769 -58 -0.3
Total
180,000 184,513 185,528 184,454 190,907 10,907 6.1
… Not Applicable as casual-education and care services do not have regular enrolments.
Note: Due to methodological changes in 2006, recent figures from licence-exempt groups are not directly comparable with earlier years.
  • Of the 91,733 enrolments in education and care services, 41.6% (38,172) were in community-based services and 58.4% (53,561) were in privately owned services.
  • Of the 11,073 enrolments in homebased networks, 33.7% (3,737) were in community-based services and 66.3% (7,336) were in privately owned services.

Enrolments by age

  • As at 1 July 2007, 5.5% (10,580) of children enrolled were under one, 13.8% (26,401) were age one, 20.3% (38,829) were age two, 29.4% (56,171) were age three, 30% (57,180) were age four and 0.9% (1,746) were age five (see Table 3).
  • Enrolments for three- and four-year-olds combined have increased by 1.8% (1,983) since 2003.
  • From 1 July 2006 to 2007, enrolments for three- and four-year-olds combined have increased by 2.7% (2,979).
  •  

Table 3 - Enrolments in Licensed and/or Chartered Early Childhood Services and Licence-exempt ECE Groups by age as at 1 July (2003 to 2007)   

Age
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Difference
    2003-07
Number %
Under 1 8,976 9,388 9,533 9,304 10,580 1,604 17.9
1 Year 22,611 23,627 25,049 24,993 26,401 3,790 16.8
2 Years 35,213 35,850 36,695 37,743 38,829 3,617 10.3
3 Years 54,280 54,056 53,594 53,870 56,171 1,891 3.5
4 Years 57,088 59,684 58,550 56,502 57,180 92 0.2
5 Years 1,832 1,908 2,106 2,042 1,746 -86 -4.7
Total 180,000 184,513 185,528 184,454 190,907 10,907 6.1
Sub-total 0-4 years 178,168 182,605 183,421 182,412 189,161 10,933 6.2
 Note: Due to methodological changes in 2006, recent figures from licence-exempt groups are not directly comparable with earlier years.

2.1 Apparent participation rates

Apparent participation rates are calculated using the total number of children enrolled in early childhood education divided by the total population for each age group. Note that because children can enrol at more than one early childhood service double counting will occur, causing the apparent participation rate for some age groups to be greater than 100%(see Figure 1).

Apparent participation rates have continued to show an increase over the years (see Figure 1)

Figure 1 - Early Childhood Education: Apparent participation rates by age group (1990 to 2007) Early Childhood Education: Apparent participation rates by age group (1990 to 2007)  

2.2 Enrolments by ethnicity

  • Of the 190,907 children enrolled as at 1 July 2007, 66% (125,968) identified as European/Pākehā, 18.7% (35,618) identified as Māori, 6.1% (11,634) identified as Pasifika, 6.2% (11,744) identified as Asian and 3.1% (5,943) identified as Other (see Table 4).
  • In licensed and/or chartered services, European/Pākehā enrolments have increased by 3.4% (3,642), Maori enrolments have increased by 4.9% (1,550), Pasifika enrolments have increased by 13.1%(1,157), Asian enrolments have increased by 14.2%(1,274) and Other enrolments have increased by 150.2% (3,342) since 2003.

Table 4 - Enrolments in early childhood education by ethnic group as at 1 July (2003 to 2007)

Ethnicity
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Licensed services
European/ Pākehā 108,340     109,255 109,809 110,366 111,982
Māori 31,816        32,866        33,297        33,019        33,366
Pasifika          8,836          9,166          9,431          9,697          9,993
Asian          8,956          9,405          9,389          9,481        10,230
Other          2,225          2,393          2,595          2,691          5,567
Sub-total  160,173 163,085 164,521 165,254 171,138
Licence-exempt ECE groups
European/ Pākehā        13,495        14,788        14,552        13,788        13,986
Māori          2,076          2,366          2,459          1,981          2,252
Pasifika          3,002          2,896          2,496          1,795          1,641
Asian             930          1,059          1,241          1,301          1,514
Other             324             319             261             335             376
Sub-total 19,827 21,428 21,009 19,200 19,769
Total      180,000      184,513      185,528      184,454      190,907
Note: Due to methodological changes in 2006, recent figures from licence-exempt groups are not directly comparable with earlier years.

 

2.3 Enrolments by region

  • Auckland region had the largest increase (4,203) in the number of enrolments between 2003 and 2007 (see Table 5).
  • Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne, Taranaki, and West Coast regions have had a decline in enrolments since 2003.  Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki have had the largest decrease in enrolments, of 580 and 227 respectively (see Table 5).  

Table 5 - Enrolments in licensed and/or chartered early childhood services and licence-exempt Groups by local body region as at 1 July (2003 and 2007)
 
Local Body Region
2003
2007
Difference 2003 - 07
Number
%
Northland
6,338
6,769
431
6.8
Auckland
52,714
56,917
4,203
8.0
Waikato
17,136
18,404
1,268
7.4
Bay of Plenty
12,264
13,429
1,165
9.5
Gisborne
2,383
2,328
-55
-2.3
Hawke’s Bay
8,882
8,302
-580
-6.5
Taranaki
4,832
4,605
-227
-4.7
Manawatu-Wanganui
10,110
10,468
358
3.5
Wellington
22,128
23,805
1,677
7.6
West Coast
1,399
1,380
-19
-1.4
Canterbury
22,766
24,562
1,796
7.9
Otago
8,369
8,587
218
2.6
Southland
3,992
4,689
697
17.5
Tasman
1,924
2,115
191
9.9
Nelson
1,970
1,977
7
0.4
Marlborough
1,779
1,791
12
0.7
Chatham Is. County
23
42
19
82.6
Correspondence School
991
737
-254
-25.6

Note: Due to methodological changes in 2006, recent figures from licence-exempt groups are not directly comparable with earlier years.

3. Hours of attendance (licensed and/or chartered)

  • For licensed and/or chartered services, excluding kōhanga reo1 and the Correspondence School, the overall average number of enrolled hours per child per week as at July 2007 was 17.6 hours, a 4.1% (0.7 hours) increase from July 2006.
  • The average number of enrolled hours at Playcentres remained steady from July 2003 to 2007. All other service types show an increase in the average number of enrolled hours over this period (see Table 6).

Table 6 – Average Hours of Attendance in licensed and/or chartered early childhood education services by service type as at 1 July (2003 to 2007)

Service Type
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
% Change
    (03-07)
Free Kindergarten 12 12.5 12.6 12.6 12.6 5.0%
Playcentre 4.3 4.4 4.3 4.4 4.3 0.0%
Education & Care Service 18.6 19.5 20.3 20.8 21.5 15.6%
Homebased Network 19.7 21.3 22.4 22.0 22.5 14.2%
Total 15.2 16.0 16.6 16.9 17.6 15.8
  • Full-time enrolments (more than 27 hours per week) have increased in education and care services by 43.2% since 2003 (see Table 7).
  • Full-time enrolments have increased by over a third in homebased networks since 2003 (see Table 7).

Table 7 - Enrolments in licensed and/or chartered early childhood education services by nature of duration as at 1 July (2003 to 2007)

Service Type
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
 
% Change
    (03-07)
Kindergarten Part-time 45,109 45,287 44,920 44,435 43,684 -3.2
Full-time - - - - 11  N/A
Playcentre Part-time 15,200 15,440 15,059 14,888 14,644 -3.5
Education and care Part-time 60,764 60,976 61,678 62,292 65,659 8.1
Full-time 18,203 20,120 22,211 23,767 26,074  43.2
Homebased network Part-time 7,362 7,362 7,065 7,204 8,025 9.0
Full-time 2,225 2,560 2,705 2,598 3,048 37.0
Total Part-time 128,435 129,065 128,722 128,819 132,032 2.8
Full-time 20,428 22,680 24,916 26,365 29,133 42.6
Notes:
  1. Full-time refers to a child enrolling more than 27 hours per week
  2. The 11 full-time enrolments for 2007 at Kindergartens belong to one service which allow children to enrol full-time.
  3. Excludes enrolments at Te Kōhanga reo and The Correspondence School as duration of attendance is not collected.

4. Māori language (licensed and/or chartered)

  • Māori language was used as the medium of instruction for at least 12% of teaching contact time in 997 licensed and/or chartered services.
  • Māori was used as the medium of instruction for 81-100% of teaching contact time in 480 licensed and/or chartered services.  Of these, 470 were kōhanga reo2 and 10 were Māori immersion services.  This is a net decrease of 17 services (3.4%) from July 2006, due to the drop in kōhanga reo services.
  • In addition, 517 services provided Māori as the medium of instruction for 12-80% of teaching contact time.  Of these services, one was casual-education and care, 74 were kindergartens, 51 were playcentres and 391 were education and care.  This is an increase of 34 services (seven percent) from July 2006.
     

5. Pasifika languages and Pasifika services (licensed and/or chartered)

  • Pasifika languages were used as the medium of instruction for at least 12% of teaching contact time in 114 licensed and/or chartered services. Over half of these services were located in the Auckland Region.
  • Of the 114 services, 51 were immersion (81-100% of teaching contact time) involving 1,546 children. Thirty-one immersion services used Samoan as the language of communication, 14 Tongan, two Cook Island Māori, three Niuean and one Tokelauan.
  • The remaining 63 services were identified as bilingual (12-80% of teaching contact time) involving 2,451 children. Forty bilingual services used Samoan as the language of communication, 13 Cook Island Māori, four Tongan, two Niuean, and four Tokelauan.
  • The majority of Pasifika services (bilingual and immersion) were education and care with 109 services. Of the remaining five services, four were kindergartens and one was a playcentre.
  • Between 2006 and 2007 the number of Pasifika services decreased by 0.9%     (1 service), however the number of children involved in these services increased by 1.6% (64) over the same period.
 

6. Staffing in teacher-led services (licensed and/or chartered)

Teacher-led services include education and care services, casual-education and care services, kindergartens, homebased networks and the Correspondence School.

6.1 Full-time and Part-time staff

  • As at 1 July 2007, there were 15,192 usual teaching staff at teacher-led services. The number of full-time staff increased by 7.2% (787) to 11,790 from July 2006. The number of part-time staff increased by 1.6% (52) to 3,402 over the same period.
 

6.2 Staff Qualifications

Note ‘Qualified’ means the teacher holds a qualification that leads to registration with the NZ Teachers Council.
  • As at 1 July 2007, 60% (9,108) of usual3 teaching staff at teacher-led services were qualified (see Table 8). This is an increase of 11.3% (922) from July 2006.
  • As at 1 July 2007, 53.9% (6,976) of usual teaching staff at education and care services (excluding casual-education and care) were qualified (see Table 8). This is an increase of 14.6% (887) from July 2006.
  •  

Table 8 - Teaching staff (headcount) at teacher-led early childhood education services by service type and qualified status as at 1 July 2007

Service Type
Qualified
Not Qualified
Staff
%
Staff
 
%
Kindergarten 1,732 96.6 61 3.4
Casual-education and care 67 54.9 55 45.1
Education and care 6,976 53.9 5965 46.1
Homebased network 315 99.1 3 0.9
Correspondence School 18 100.0 - -
Total 9,108 60.0 6,084 40.0
 

6.3 NZ Teachers Council registration status

  • At July 2007, 59.7% (9,074) of usual teaching staff at teacher-led services were registered (see Table 9). This is an increase of 12.1% (983) from July 2006.
  • At July 2007, 53.7% (6,946) of usual teaching staff at education and care services were registered (see Table 9). This is an increase of 15.7% (940) from July 2006.
 

Table 9 – Teaching staff (headcount) at teacher-led early childhood education services by service type and registration status as at 1 July 2007

 
Service Type
Registered
Not Registered 
Staff
%
Staff
Kindergarten 1,734 96.7 59 3.3
Casual-education and care 62 50.8 60 49.2
Education and care 6,946 53.7 5,995 46.3
Homebased network 314 98.7 4 1.3
Correspondence School 18 100.0 - -
Total 9,074 59.7 6,118 40.3
 

6.4 Staff in study

  • At July 2007 23.7% (3,606) of teaching staff at teacher-led services were in study for an ECE qualification.
  • Of the staff in study that do not currently hold a NZ Teachers Council-approved qualification (3,032), 97.5% were in study for a qualification that leads to NZ Teachers Council registration.
  • At July 2007, 48.6% (2,955) of all staff that were not qualified were in study for a qualification that leads to NZ Teachers Council registration.

6.5 Staff ethnicity

  • Of the 15,192 usual teaching staff at teacher led services, 74.2% (11,268) were European/Pākehā, 8.1% (1,238) were Pasifika, 8.3% (1,267) were Māori, 7.5% (1,134) were Asian and 1.9% (285) were of Other ethnicity.

7. Playcentre Educators and Parents

  • Playcentres require a minimum number of adults who have playcentre or other qualifications in order to meet their licensing requirements.
  • At 1 July 2007 there were 6,765 adults on duty at Playcentres. This is a decrease of 4.7% (332) since July 2006.
  • Of the 6,765 adults on duty, 5,419 were recorded as holding a Playcentre qualification.
  • Of the adults on duty, 346 were recorded as holding a non-playcentre ECE qualification.
  • Of the adults on duty, 640 were paid adults (632 held a Playcentre qualification) and 6,125 were unpaid adults designated to be on duty.
  • Of the paid adults, 89.8% (575) were European/Pākehā, 6.7% (43) were Māori, 1.9% (12) were Asian, 0.9% (6) were Pasifika and 0.6% (4) were of Other ethnicity.
  • At July 2007 there were 3,521 adults currently in study for ECE or Playcentre qualifications.
 

8. Iwi Affiliation of Children (licensed and/or chartered)

Services have been asked to collect the Iwi affiliation since 2003. Note the following figures do not include children enrolled at kōhanga reo as Iwi data is not provided.
  • At July 2007, the number of children for whom Iwi responses were provided increased to 23,125. The percentage providing a specific Iwi affiliation has increased to 71% (16,409), with the remaining 29% (6,716) not providing an Iwi4. This indicates further improvement in the response rate and quality of data.

Footnotes 

  1. Note hours of attendance are not collected from kōhanga reo however it is assumed that children attending these services attend for 30 hours per week.
  2. Kōhanga reo services are Māori immersion as they teach in Māori for 100% of teaching contact time.
  3. Usual teaching staff means the people who would normally be teaching, therefore do not include day-to-day relievers etc. Paid support staff and paid specialist staff are excluded.
  4. Not providing an Iwi means their responses consisted of “Don’t know”, “Refused to answer”, “Response unidentifiable”, “Response outside scope” and “Not stated”.
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