Annual ECE Summary Report 2008

Summary

It includes statistics indicating the number of services, number of children enrolled, hours of attendance, the language of communication used by teaching staff, and statistics on staffing. To obtain data tables around licensed enrolments, teachers, number of services or average hours, please refer to the main ECE (Early Childhood Education) Statistics page.

1. Number of services

As at 1 July 2008:

• there were 4,649 early childhood education services, an increase of 3.8% (170) from 1 July 2007
• there were 3,881 licensed and/or chartered services, an increase of 3.5% (131) from 1 July 2007
• there were 768 licence-exempt ECE groups, an increase of 5.3% (39) from 1 July 2007
• the number of early childhood education services has increased by 6.3% (275) since 2004. This includes 307 more licensed and/or chartered services and 32 less licence-exempt groups (see Table 1).

Table 1 - Number of early childhood education services by service type as at 1 July (2004 to 2008)

Service Type	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Difference 2004 - 08 (Number)	Difference 2004 - 08 (%)
Licensed Services - Kindergarten	614	618	619	618	622	8	1.3%
Licensed Services - Playcentre	481	482	474	466	464	-17	-3.5%
Licensed Services - Education and care	1,730	1,754	1,842	1,932	2,047	317	18.3%
Licensed Services - Homebased network	192	201	202	227	244	52	27.1%
Licensed Services - Kōhanga reo	513	501	486	470	467	-46	-9.0%
Licensed Services - Correspondence School	1	1	1	1	1	N/C	N/C
Licensed Services - Casual-education and care	43	41	41	36	36	-7	-16.3%
Licensed Services - Sub-total	3,574	3,598	3,665	3,750	3,881	307	8.6%
Licence-exempt ECE groups - Playgroups	599	641	667	608	656	57	9.5%
Licence-exempt ECE groups - Pacific Island Early Childhood Groups	113	106	93	62	53	-60	-53.1%
Licence-exempt ECE groups - Nga Puna Kohungahunga	43	49	41	30	32	-11	-25.6%
Licence-exempt ECE groups - Playcentres	32	31	22	22	24	-8	-25.0%
Licence-exempt ECE groups - Licence-exempt Kōhanga Reo	13	11	8	7	3	-10	-76.9%
Licence-exempt ECE groups - Sub-total	800	838	831	729	768	-32	-4.0%
TOTAL	4,374	4,436	4,496	4,479	4,649	275	6.3%

• Of the 3,880 (excluding Correspondence School) licensed and/or chartered early childhood education services, 63.7% (2,471) are community based. The remaining 36.3% (1,409) are privately owned services.
• Of the 2,083 education and care services (including casual-education and care), which account for 53.7% of all licensed services as at 1 July 2008, 40.0% (833) are community based and 60.0% (1,250) are privately owned. Education and care services tend to offer all-day, flexible hour programmes that require little parental involvement. These services have shown the most increase in numbers since 1990.

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. Three of those licensed services were newly opened at the time of census week and had no enrolments. A further nine licensed services and 70 licence-exempt groups did not provide data. As with last year, these services are excluded from the following analysis.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 2008:

• there were 198,784 enrolments in early childhood education
• there were 176,993 enrolments in licensed early childhood education services, an increase of 8.5% (13,908) since 2004 (see Table 2)

Table 2 - Enrolments in licensed and/or chartered early childhood education services by service type as at 1 July (2004 to 2008)

Service Type	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Difference 2004 - 08 (Number)	Difference 2004 - 08 (%)
Kindergarten	45,287	44,920	44,435	43,695	41,487	-3,800	-8.4%
Playcentre	15,440	15,059	14,888	14,664	14,929	-511	-3.3%
Education and care	81,096	83,889	86,059	91,733	97,756	16,660	20.5%
Homebased network	9,922	9,770	9,802	11,073	13,065	3,143	31.7%
Kōhanga reo	10,418	10,070	9,493	9,236	9,165	-1,253	-12.0%
Correspondence School	922	813	577	737	591	-331	-35.9%
Casual-education and care	…	…	…	…	…	…	…
Total Licensed Services	163,085	164,521	165,254	171,138	176,993	13,908	8.5%
… Not Applicable as casual-education and care services do not have regular enrolments.

• Of the 97,756 enrolments in education and care services, 39.6% (38,676) were in community-based services and 60.4% (59,080) were in privately owned services.

Enrolments by age

• As at 1 July 2008, 5.6% (11,072) of enrolments in licensed services and licence-exempt ECE groups were under one, 14.5% (28,825) were age one, 20.0% (39,783) were age two, 29.2% (57,978) were age three, 30.0% (59,662) were age four and 0.7% (1,464) were age five
• Enrolments for three- and four-year-olds in licensed services have increased by 3.4% (3,601) since 2007 and 4.1% (4,359) since 2004 (see Table 3).

Table 3 - Enrolments in licensed and/or chartered early childhood services by age as at 1 July (2004 to 2008)

Age	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Difference 2004-08 (Number)	Difference 2004-08 (%)
Under 1	6,577	6,576	6,721	7,803	7,894	1,317	20.0%
1 Year	18,925	20,200	20,390	21,783	23,593	4,668	24.7%
2 Years	29,688	30,695	32,106	33,040	33,707	4,019	13.5%
3 Years	49,166	49,037	49,767	51,918	53,298	4,132	8.4%
4 Years	57,051	56,098	54,406	55,057	57,278	227	0.4%
5 Years	1,678	1,915	1,864	1,537	1,223	-455	-27.1%
TOTAL	163,085	164,521	165,254	171,138	176,993	13,908	8.5%
Sub-total 3 & 4 years	106,217	105,135	104,173	106,975	110,576	4,359	4.1%

  

2.1 Enrolment rates

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

There has been a substantial increase in the proportion of enrolments in early childhood education since 1990, with an increase of 56.5% to 2008. However, the increase in enrolment rates has levelled out over the last nine years with only an 10.8% increase since 2000, and 4.2% growth since 2006. Most of this increase has been for children aged under three for whom enrolment rates have more than doubled since 1990. (see Figure 1)

Figure 1 - Early Childhood Education: Enrolment rates by age group (1990 to 2008)

2.2 Enrolments by ethnicity

• Of the 198,784 enrolments as at 1 July 2008, 64.8% (128,910) identified as European/Pākehā, 18.7% (37,122) identified as Māori, 6.2% (12,391) identified as Pasifika, 6.6% (13,205) identified as Asian and 3.6% (7,156) identified as Other.
• In licensed and/or chartered services, European/Pākehā enrolments have increased by 3.8% (4,146), Māori enrolments have increased by 5.7% (1,882), Pasifika enrolments have increased by 16.5% (1,512), Asian enrolments have increased by 22.6% (2,125) and Other enrolments have increased by 177.3% (4,243) since 2004 (see Table 4).

Table 4 - Enrolments in licensed and/or chartered early childhood services by ethnic group as at 1 July (2004 to 2008)

Ethnicity	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Difference 2004 - 08 (Number)	Difference 2004 - 08 (%)
European/ Pākehā	109,255	109,809	110,366	111,982	113,401	4,146	3.8%
Māori	32,866	33,297	33,019	33,366	34,748	1,882	5.7%
Pasifika	9,166	9,431	9,697	9,993	10,678	1,512	16.5%
Licensed services - Asian	9,405	9,389	9,481	10,230	11,530	2,125	22.6%
Licensed services - Other	2,393	2,595	2,691	5,567	6,636	4,243	177.3%
Total - Licensed services	163,085	164,521	165,254	171,138	176,993	13,908	8.5%

  

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

• For licensed and/or chartered services, excluding kōhanga reo, the Correspondence School and Casual-education and care¹, the overall average number of enrolled hours per child per week as at July 2008 was 18.9 hours, a 7.4% (1.3 hour) increase from July 2007.
• The average number of enrolled hours at Playcentres has decreased slightly from July 2004 to 2008. 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 (2004 to 2008)

Service Type	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	% Change (2004-08)
Kindergarten	12.5	12.6	12.6	12.6	13.4	7.2%
Playcentre	4.4	4.3	4.4	4.3	4.2	-4.5%
Education and care	19.5	20.3	20.8	21.5	22.9	17.4%
Homebased Network	21.3	22.4	22	22.5	22.8	7.0%
Total	16	16.6	16.9	17.6	18.9	18.1%

• Full-time enrolments (more than 27 hours per week) have increased in education and care services by 44.7% since 2004 (see Table 7).

Table 7 - Enrolments in licensed and/or chartered early childhood education services by nature of duration as at 1 July (2004 to 2008)

Service Type	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	% Change (04-08)
Kindergarten - Part time	45,287	44,920	44,435	43,684	41,211	-9.0%
Kindergarten - Full-time	-	-	-	11	276	N/A
Playcentre - Part time	15,440	15,059	14,888	14,644	14,929	-3.3%
Education and care - Part time	60,976	61,678	62,292	65,659	68,645	12.6%
Education and care - Full-time	20,120	22,211	23,767	26,074	29,111	44.7%
Homebased network - Part time	7,362	7,065	7,204	8,025	9,471	28.6%
Homebased network - Full-time	2,560	2,705	2,598	3,048	3,594	40.4%
TOTAL - Part time	129,065	128,722	128,819	132,032	134,256	4.0%
TOTAL - Full-time	22,680	24,916	26,365	29,133	32,981	45.4%
Note Full-time refers to a child enrolling more than 27 hours per week Excludes enrolments at Te Kōhanga reo and The Correspondence School as duration of attendance is not collected.

4. 20 Hours Free ECE (licensed and/or chartered)

• There were 82,721 enrolments in Free ECE as at 1 July 2008 (see Table 8). This equates to 82.1% of all enrolments for 3 to 5 year-olds at teacher-led licensed and/or chartered services. Data on Free ECE enrolments were not collected from Kōhanga Reo.
• The number of services with enrolments in Free ECE was 2,252 as at 1 July 2008. This equals 83.4% of all eligible services able to offer Free ECE.
• Kindergartens made up the highest percentage of eligible services offering Free ECE, with all their services having enrolments in Free ECE. Following this was homebased networks, with 81.7 % of eligible services offering Free ECE. Education and care services had 78.1% of eligible services offering Free ECE (see Table 9).
  

 

Table 8 - Enrolments in Free ECE by age compared to all enrolments for 3 to 5 year-olds as 1 July 2008

^eligible services are defined as those teacher-led services with enrolments in ages 3 to 5.
Service Type	Free ECE enrolments - Age 3	Free ECE enrolments - Age 4	Free ECE enrolments - Age 5	Free ECE enrolments - Total	All enrolments for 3 to 5 year-olds - Age 3	All enrolments for 3 to 5 year-olds - Age 4	All enrolments for 3 to 5 year-olds - Age 5	All enrolments for 3 to 5 year-olds - Total
Kindergarten	14,843	23,932	204	38,979	15,416	24,472	252	40,140
Education and care	20,796	19,214	148	40,158	28,769	25,888	597	55,254
Homebased Network	2,093	1,473	18	3,584	3,001	2,203	213	5,417
Total	37,732	44,619	370	82,721	47,186	52,563	1,062	100,811

Table 9 - Number of services with enrolments in Free ECE compared with all eligible services as at 1 July 2008

Service Type	Number of services with enrolments in Free ECE	Number of services eligible^ to offer Free ECE	% of eligible^ services with enrolments in Free ECE
Kindergarten	622	622	100.0%
Education and care	1,438	1,842	78.1%
Homebased Network	192	235	81.7%
Total	2,252	2,699	83.4%

5. Māori language (licensed and/or chartered)

• Māori language was used as the medium of instruction for at least 12% of teaching contact time in 1,055 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, 467 were kōhanga reo²and 13 were Māori immersion services. There was no net change to the number of services from July 2007, however kōhanga reo services have dropped slightly (by three services), (0.6%), while other Māori immersion services have risen by the same number.
• In addition, 575 services provided Māori as the medium of instruction for 12-80% of teaching contact time. Of these services, 75 were kindergartens, 54 were playcentres and 446 were education and care. This is an increase of 58 services (11.2 percent) from July 2007.

6. 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 115 licensed and/or chartered services. Well over half of these services were located in the Auckland Region.
• Of the 115 services, 57 were immersion (81-100% of teaching contact time) involving 1,829 children. Thirty-six immersion services used Samoan as the language of communication, 17 Tongan, one Cook Island Māori, two Niuean and one Tokelauan.
• The remaining 58 services were identified as bilingual (12-80% of teaching contact time) involving 2,276 children. Thirty-six bilingual services used Samoan as the language of communication, 13 Cook Island Māori, three Tongan, three Niuean, and three Tokelauan.
• The majority of Pasifika services (bilingual and immersion) were education and care, with 109 such services. Of the remaining six services, five were kindergartens and one was a playcentre.
• Between 2007 and 2008 the number of Pasifika services increased by 0.9% (one service), with the number of enrolments in these services increasing by 2.7% (108) over the same period.

7. 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.

7.1 Full-time and Part-time staff

• As at 1 July 2008, there were 16,861 usual teaching staff at teacher-led services. The number of full-time staff increased by 13.4% (1,585) to 13,375 from July 2007. The number of part-time staff increased by 2.5% (84) to 3,486 over the same period.

7.2 Staff Qualifications

Note ‘Qualified’ means the teacher holds a recognised ECE teaching qualification that leads to registration with the NZ Teachers Council.

• As at 1 July 2008, 61.1% (10,305) of usual³ teaching staff at teacher-led services were qualified. This is an increase of 13.1% (1,197) from July 2007.
• As at 1 July 2008, 55.0% (7,905) of usual teaching staff at education and care services (excluding casual-education and care) were qualified. This is an increase of 13.3% (929) from July 2007 (see Table 10).

Table 10 - Teaching staff (headcount) at teacher-led early childhood education services by service type and qualified status as at 1 July 2008

Service Type	Qualified Staff	Qualified %	Not Qualified Staff	Not Qualified %
Kindergarten	1,943	97.1%	59	2.9%
Casual-education and care	72	67.3%	35	32.7%
Education and care	7,905	55.0%	6460	45.0%
Homebased network	367	99.5%	2	0.5%
Correspondence School	18	100.0%	-	-
TOTAL	10,305	61.1%	6,556	38.9%

      

7.3 NZ Teachers Council registration status

• At July 2008, 61.2% (10,320) of usual teaching staff at teacher-led services were registered. This is an increase of 13.7% (1,246) from July 2007 (see Table 11).
• There can be slightly more teachers registered than qualified because a teacher can be registered (for example as a primary teacher) but not hold a recognised early childhood qualification.
• At July 2008, 55.1% (7,921) of usual teaching staff at education and care services were registered (see Table 11). This is an increase of 14.0% (975) from July 2007.

Table 11 – Teaching staff (headcount) at teacher-led early childhood education services by service type and registration status as at 1 July 2008

Service Type	Registered Staff	Registered %	Not Registered Staff	Not Registered %
Kindergarten	1,944	97.1%	58	2.9%
Casual-education and care	73	68.2%	34	31.8%
Education and care	7,921	55.1%	6,444	44.9%
Homebased network	364	98.6%	5	1.4%
Correspondence School	18	100.0%	-	-
TOTAL	10,320	61.2%	6,541	38.8%

        

7.4 Staff in study

• At July 2008, 22.9% (3,867) 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 (3,418), 98.0% were in study for a qualification that leads to NZ Teachers Council registration.
• At July 2008, 51.1% (3,348) of all staff that were not qualified were in study for a qualification that leads to NZ Teachers Council registration.

7.5 Staff ethnicity

• Of the 16,861 usual teaching staff at teacher led services, 72.8% (12,268) were European/Pākehā, 8.8% (1,477) were Pasifika, 8.6% (1,444) were Māori, 8.0% (1,344) were Asian and 1.9% (328) were of Other ethnicity.

8. 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 2008 there were 6,650 adults on duty at Playcentres. This is a decrease of 1.7% (115) since July 2007.
• Of the 6,650 adults on duty, 5,397 were recorded as holding a Playcentre qualification. This is a slight decrease of 0.4% (22 adults) since July 2007.
• Of the adults on duty, 387 were recorded as holding a non-playcentre ECE qualification.
• Of the adults on duty, 653 were paid adults (645 held a Playcentre qualification) and 5,997 were unpaid adults designated to be on duty.
• Of the paid adults, 89.3% (583) were European/Pākehā, 6.4% (42) were Māori, 2.0% (13) were Asian, 0.9% (6) were Pasifika and 1.4% (9) were of Other ethnicity.
• At July 2008 there were 3,415 adults currently in study for ECE or Playcentre qualifications.

9. 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 2008, the number of children for whom Iwi responses were provided increased to 24,985. The percentage providing a specific Iwi affiliation has increased to 72.8% (18,186), with the remaining 27.2% (6,799) not providing an Iwi. This indicates further improvement in the response rate and quality of data.

Footnotes

1. Note hours of attendance are not collected for these services
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.