Participation in high quality ECE has significant benefits for children and their future learning ability. ECE can positively impact literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills well into the teenage years. ECE also encourages the development of cognitive and attitudinal competencies, and leads to higher levels of achievement and better social outcomes.
ECE Participation has been identified as a key factor in supporting vulnerable children which has led to its inclusion in the Better Public Services Programme, launched in 2012. This Programme aims to increase participation in early childhood education to 98% of all new entrants by 2016
Prior ECE participation shows those students starting school that regularly participated in ECE prior to starting school.
Table 1: Prior participation in early childhood education by ethnic group and gender (2016-2018)
Ethnic group
Gender
Prior participation
Number of new entrants
Prior participation rate (%)
2016
2017
2018
2016
2017
2018
2016
2017
2018
Māori
Female
9
7
8
9
8
9
100.0
87.5
88.9
Māori
Male
15
13
7
17
13
7
88.2
100.0
100.0
Māori
Total
24
20
15
26
21
16
92.3
95.2
93.8
Pacific
Female
x
x
x
2
0
2
x
x
x
Pacific
Male
x
x
x
2
1
0
x
x
x
Pacific
Total
x
x
x
4
1
2
x
x
x
Asian
Female
x
0
0
1
0
0
x
0.0
0.0
Asian
Male
x
0
0
0
0
0
x
0.0
0.0
Asian
Total
x
0
0
1
0
0
x
0.0
0.0
Other
Female
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Other
Male
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Other
Total
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0.0
0.0
European/Pākehā
Female
x
x
x
1
3
3
x
x
x
European/Pākehā
Male
x
x
x
3
5
3
x
x
x
European/Pākehā
Total
x
8
6
4
8
6
x
100.0
100.0
Total
Female
9
9
11
9
10
12
100.0
90.0
91.7
Total
Male
15
14
7
17
14
7
88.2
100.0
100.0
Total
Total
24
23
18
26
24
19
92.3
95.8
94.7
‘x’ = data has been suppressed where there are between 0 and 5 students in the denominator for a specific group, for example Asian Females. Where one gender has been suppressed the corresponding gender has also been suppressed. Please note schools with small numbers of new entrants (less than 20) often are subject to large fluctuations and may not provide a very reliable basis for comparison with other categories.
Ethnicity is multiple response, that is, students who affiliated in more than one ethnic group have been counted in each ethnic group. Students are only counted once in the total, therefore, the ethnic groups may not sum to the total.
The number of students with unknown prior ECE attendance has been excluded from both the numerator and denominator when calculating participation rates.
Table 2: Comparison prior participation in early childhood education data (2016-2018)
Comparison group
Gender
Prior participation
Number of new entrants
Prior particpation rate (%)
2016
2017
2018
2016
2017
2018
2016
2017
2018
Tongariro School
Female
9
9
11
9
10
12
100.0
90.0
91.7
Tongariro School
Male
15
14
7
17
14
7
88.2
100.0
100.0
Tongariro School
Total
24
23
18
26
24
19
92.3
95.8
94.7
Waikato Region
Female
2,874
2,978
2,967
2,954
3,065
3,061
97.3
97.2
96.9
Waikato Region
Male
3,139
3,180
2,920
3,241
3,285
3,021
96.9
96.8
96.7
Waikato Region
Total
6,013
6,158
5,887
6,195
6,350
6,082
97.1
97.0
96.8
Composite (Year 1-15)
Female
1,259
1,395
1,336
1,299
1,434
1,378
96.9
97.3
97.0
Composite (Year 1-15)
Male
1,198
1,274
1,232
1,255
1,318
1,271
95.5
96.7
96.9
Composite (Year 1-15)
Total
2,457
2,669
2,568
2,554
2,752
2,649
96.2
97.0
96.9
State: Not integrated
Female
25,529
25,596
24,545
26,428
26,464
25,377
96.6
96.7
96.7
State: Not integrated
Male
27,069
26,934
25,944
28,072
27,847
26,786
96.4
96.7
96.9
State: Not integrated
Total
52,598
52,530
50,489
54,500
54,311
52,163
96.5
96.7
96.8
Decile 01
Female
2,630
2,617
2,361
2,881
2,854
2,600
91.3
91.7
90.8
Decile 01
Male
2,783
2,815
2,597
3,065
3,073
2,848
90.8
91.6
91.2
Decile 01
Total
5,413
5,432
4,958
5,946
5,927
5,448
91.0
91.6
91.0
New Zealand
Female
28,761
28,951
27,756
29,730
29,896
28,662
96.7
96.8
96.8
New Zealand
Male
30,197
30,116
28,993
31,271
31,100
29,911
96.6
96.8
96.9
New Zealand
Total
58,958
59,067
56,749
61,001
60,996
58,573
96.7
96.8
96.9
‘x’ = data has been suppressed where there are between 0 and 5 students in the denominator for a specific group, for example Asian Females. Where one gender has been suppressed the corresponding gender has also been suppressed. Please note schools with small numbers of new entrants (less than 20) often are subject to large fluctuations and may not provide a very reliable basis for comparison with other categories.
Ethnicity is multiple response, that is, students who affiliated in more than one ethnic group have been counted in each ethnic group. Students are only counted once in the total, therefore, the ethnic groups may not sum to the total.
The number of students with unknown prior ECE attendance has been excluded from both the numerator and denominator when calculating participation rates.
Early Childhood Education
Participation in high quality ECE has significant benefits for children and their future learning ability. ECE can positively impact literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills well into the teenage years. ECE also encourages the development of cognitive and attitudinal competencies, and leads to higher levels of achievement and better social outcomes.
ECE Participation has been identified as a key factor in supporting vulnerable children which has led to its inclusion in the Better Public Services Programme, launched in 2012. This Programme aims to increase participation in early childhood education to 98% of all new entrants by 2016
Prior ECE participation shows those students starting school that regularly participated in ECE prior to starting school.
Identical information is available by regional council and territorial local authority through the Know Your Region pages.