The National Party says it will retain the policy of 20 hours free early childhood education if it wins the general election, but will make some changes.
National released its policy on Friday, saying parents are not getting the 20 hours "free" under the current system, so the party will rename it "20 hours ECE".
The party's early childhood spokeswoman, Paula Bennett, says National would also remove the current limit, whereby children can attend a centre for a maximum of six hours a day.
Ms Bennett says the name change does not mean parents may face extra payments in the future, as the current subsidies and fee controls will be retained.
She says if Labour extended the scheme, either to younger children or by increasing the number of hours, National would not match it.
The party estimates the policy will cost about $7 million.
However, Prime Minister Helen Clark says her interpretation of National's policy could see the free scheme "gone by lunchtime" and it gives no guarantee to those already making use of it.
Miss Clark says the 20 free hours would be dumped, as National's consistent policy has been for childcare providers to charge what they like.
NZEI disappointed
The union representing early childhood education teachers says National's early education policy will undo many of the gains that have been made in the sector.
The NZEI says it is particularly disappointed that if it wins the election, National will axe the requirement for centres to work towards having only trained teachers looking after under two-year-olds by 2012.
NZEI president Frances Nelson says National's plan to stick to the current 50% ratio is a step backwards and believes it is watering down a policy that has been hard-fought for.
But the Auckland Kindergarten Association says National is being pragmatic and is taking measures to deal with teacher shortages.
