Heather du Plessis-Allan: The Country Kindy situation is beyond ridiculous

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Thank goodness there is some common sense left in this country.

Country Kindy has been given permission to stay open for another 12 weeks, at least.

I’ve been fascinated by this story since we got wind of it at the end of last week. If you haven't been across it - last Thursday, it was announced that the Ministry of Education was going to close down Country Kindy from Monday.

Then on Monday, it was announced that the kindy was taking court action to overturn the decision.

And yesterday, it was announced that David Seymour had got involved in his capacity as an Education Minister, and the Ministry had agreed to allow it to stay open for the next 12 weeks while the court action takes place.

Good. Because this situation is ridiculous.

First of all, imagine the impact on the parents of those 22 kids who were told on a Thursday that from Monday - they need to find alternative care for their kids.

Good luck trying to get kids into an early childhood centre with two days’ notice. Even in a place like Auckland with heaps of ECE’s on offer, it's hard. Never mind trying to find that in Manawatu, somewhere between Fielding and Hunterville - I don't think there's going to be a lot of kindies there.

To give you an example, in Auckland I was on a waiting list for 18 months - until I cancelled it because I couldn't be bothered waiting anymore. Imagine what it's like somewhere between Fielding and Hunterville.

Imagine the impact on those parents, imagine the impact on their workplaces because one of them won't be coming to work with a pre-schooler at home, and imagine the impact on those kids - who just want to go to kindy and see their friends.

But worst of all of this is why the kindy was shut down. It was shut down because it failed to meet seven regulations.

These include my personal favourite three:

• Condition 1- "a philosophy statement [that] guides the service's operation";
• Condition 5- "demonstrate that adults providing education and care engage in meaningful, positive interactions to enhance children’s learning and nurture reciprocal relationships";
• Condition 6 - "The practices of adults providing education and care demonstrate an understanding of children’s learning and development, and knowledge of relevant theories and practice in early childhood education".

The teachers weren't beating the kids, they weren’t starving them or locking them outdoors all day, there wasn't a health and safety issue. They just didn’t write a philosophy statement, which means they need to get shut down.

This is ridiculous.

This is also a perfect example of A- why the early childhood sector desperately needs that red tape review that David Seymour's doing and B- what’s gone wrong with the Ministry of Education.

Because apparently to them, paperwork and philosophy statements are more important than kids just being able to go to kindy.

So thank goodness this place is still open, and here’s hoping the Ministry of Education gets a spanking in court.

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