11 May 2020

Early childhood sector - viability concerns

From Nine To Noon, 9:32 am on 11 May 2020
Painting and tricycle at early childhood centre

Photo: RNZ Insight/John Gerritsen

As schools, universites and early childhood centres wait to find out when they can be fully operational again, the level 3 and 4 lockdown has claimed casualties in the education sector. The Early Childhood Council Chief Exective Peter Reynolds says seven weeks of closure has taken a huge emotional and financial toll on some early learning centres, with one operator phoning him in tears saying they won't be reopening. He says even when centres can reopen under level 2, attendance numbers will be slow to build up and he predicts more centres will cease operating.