Prime Minister Helen Clark and Education Minister Chris Carter today announced the first of the latest round of grants made by government to increase the number of places in early childhood education.
�Today�s announcement is great news for Pasifika families in Mangere where three Pasifika services receive capital grants totalling $1.661 million to provide spaces for another 75 small children,� Helen Clark and Chris Carter said.
The announcement was made at Mangere�s Akoteu Lotofale�ia early childhood service, which is run by the Tongan Methodist Church. It will receive $471,929 to provide space for 25 more children, an increase of fifty per cent on its current roll of fifty.
Also in Mangere:
- Akoteu Tuingapapai O Uesile will receive a capital grant of $361,034 to provide for another twenty children.
- Faka�ili Mou�i � a brand new service � receives $827,909 to establish places for thirty children.
�There is also good news today for Mangere�s Revival Centre Aoga Amata, which receives a planning grant of $25,000. This will support it developing its proposal for a new fifty place-Samoan bilingual early childhood service,� Helen Clark said.
�The Labour-led Government is making big investments in early childhood education for Pasifika children.
�From 2000 to 2007, 835 new places in Pasifika centres were funded through capital grants in the South Auckland area, and another 824 places were funded in other centres in the area.
In total, prior to today�s announcements, fifty capital grants, totalling $24.8 million went to creating new places in community based ECE in South Auckland in those years.
�These places are badly needed as over twenty per cent of Pasifika children in Year One at School in South Auckland have not attended ECE.
�The good news is that ECE is now much more affordable for Pasifika families, with 93 per cent of Pasifika early childhood services across Auckland taking part in the 20 Hours Free scheme for three and four year olds in ECE.�
Helen Clark and Chris Carter said that more than $6 million is being allocated in this latest round of capital grants from the Ministry of Education�s discretionary grants scheme.
�Significant capital grants are going to eleven centres nationwide, and another nine centres will receive planning grants. Announcements about these grants will be made locally in the coming week.
�The Labour-led Government has always recognised the importance of early childhood education and we continue to invest heavily in this vital part of our education system,� Helen Clark says.
The funding is for capital assistance to eligible community-based groups to increase the provision of early childhood education, and is allocated twice each financial year.
�We know that quality early childhood education makes a positive difference to the learning outcomes for children,� Chris Carter says.
�Research shows that the greatest benefits are for children who traditionally have been less likely to access early childhood education, including children from poorer homes or those who live in rural communities.�
In the 2007-08 financial year over $16 million has been allocated under the Discretionary Grants scheme. Funding from this round � $6,328,941 � will directly contribute to the creation of 341 new child places in early childhood centres. It will also help retain 40 places in centres that are relocating.
The Discretionary Grants Scheme has provided over $90 million of funding towards early childhood education centres since July 2000.
Applications for the first round of the Discretionary Grants Scheme for 2008 close on Monday 28 April 2008.
Information and application forms are available at www.minedu.govt.nz
