Knowledge and skills

Participation in early childhood education

Definition

The proportion of children who participated in, or are enrolled or attending, early childhood education.

RelevanceTop

Evidence from New Zealand and international research shows that the early childhood years are vital to a child’s development and to their future ability to learn.9 Quality early childhood education programmes prepare young children socially, physically and academically for entry into primary education, and can help narrow the achievement gap between children from low-income families and those from more advantaged families.

The headline measure uses prior participation in early childhood education (ECE) for children starting school. The second measure uses enrolment rates in early childhood education.

1. Prior participation of Year 1 studentsTop

Current level and trendsTop

At June 2014, 95.9 percent of children starting school had attended early childhood education, slightly above the 2013 rate (95.6 percent).

There have been steady increases in early childhood education participation since June 2000, when the rate was 90 percent of children starting school, 5.9 percentage points lower than in June 2014.

Figure K1.1 – Proportion of children starting school who attended early
childhood education, 2000–2014

Figure K1.1 – Proportion of children starting school who attended early childhood education, 2000–2014

Source: Ministry of Education

Sex differencesTop

Based on prior participation figures, there were no significant differences between males and females (95.6 and 96.0 percent respectively in 2014).

Ethnic differencesTop

In 2014, there were ethnic differences in the proportion of children starting school who had attended early childhood education. European children had the highest proportion at 98.1 percent, followed by the Asian ethnic group (97.0 percent). Pacific children had the lowest proportion at 90.3 percent, followed by Māori (92.9 percent) and Other ethnic groups (94.7 percent).

There have also been variations in changes over time by ethnicity. For the European, Asian and Other ethnic groups, substantive gains were made from 2000 to 2007, but improvements have since slowed as rates approach 100 percent. For Pacific and Māori children, there has been continued improvement including significant gains from 2000 to 2007, and further gains from 2007 to 2014 following the introduction of 20 hours free ECE in 2007.

Table K1.1 – Proportion of children starting school who attended early
childhood education, by ethnic group, 2000–2014

Year European Māori Pacific peoples Asian Other ethnic groups Total
2000 94.2 83.1 75.8 89.2 82.2 90.0
2001 94.9 83.6 76.0 89.8 83.3 90.3
2002 95.5 84.8 79.1 92.1 85.7 91.2
2003 96.2 86.7 83.1 92.4 88.0 92.5
2004 96.4 87.5 84.4 94.1 88.5 93.0
2005 96.5 88.1 84.2 95.1 89.1 93.2
2006 96.9 88.1 83.8 96.0 90.8 93.4
2007 97.0 88.8 83.6 96.0 92.7 93.6
2008 97.2 88.7 84.4 95.3 92.9 93.6
2009 97.3 89.6 85.1 95.6 93.9 94.0
2010 97.6 89.4 85.9 95.9 95.4 94.4
2011 97.8 90.1 86.1 95.8 95.4 94.6
2012 97.9 90.9 86.7 95.8 95.4 94.9
2013 98.2 92.3 88.5 96.8 94.6 95.6
2014 98.1 92.9 90.3 97.0 94.7 95.9

Source: Ministry of Education
Note: Ethnicity is total response.

Socio-economic differencesTop

School deciles are a measure of the socio-economic status of the community schools draw students from, and as such are a proxy measure of the socio-economic status of students, although there will be a mix of students in schools.10 Deciles range from 1 to 10, with Decile 10 schools being the least disadvantaged and Decile 1 schools the most disadvantaged. In 2014, the proportion of children starting a Decile 1 school who had attended early childhood education was 87.3 percent, this compares with 99.0 percent for Decile 10 schools.

Regional differencesTop

In 2014, Nelson, Otago, Canterbury and Tasman performed consistently well in terms of the proportion of children starting school who had attended early childhood education (99.0, 98.4, 98.2 and 97.1 percent respectively). Three regions consistently performed less well: Northland, Auckland and Gisborne (91.0, 94.8 and 95 percent respectively).

2. Enrolments (attendances)Top

Current level and trendsTop

Enrolment data allows for results to be provided by age. Changes to the method of collecting data, however, means 2014 data should not be compared with previous data, making short-term time series analysis problematic. However, data still allows for longer-term trends to be reported.

The most common ages for children to attend early childhood education is at 3 and 4 years. In 2014, 93.1 percent of 3 year olds and 97.1 percent of 4 year olds attended early childhood education (95.1 percent for 3 and 4 year olds combined). This compares with 44.2 percent of 1 year olds and 64.5 percent of 2 year olds.

When comparing changes in early childhood education enrolments for children aged 3 and 4 years with children aged 1 and 2 years, there are marked differences. Between 2000 and 2013, there was a 14.8 percentage point increase in those aged 1 and 2 years enrolled in early childhood education. This compares with a 6.0 percentage point increase for children aged 3 and 4 years.

Further reflecting changes in early childhood education activity is the time that children aged 0–5 years spend in education per week. The average number of hours per enrolment per week rose from 13.5 hours in 2000 to 21.7 hours in 2013 (up 8.2 hours).

Enrolment by service typeTop

The majority of children aged 3 and 4 years were enrolled in education and care services (61.9 percent in 2014), followed by kindergartens (24.0 percent). The fall in kindergarten enrolments over time was a result of the change from kindergartens having mostly sessional services to mostly all-day services, with their number of enrolments consequently falling and their average hours per enrolment rising.11

Figure K1.2 – Proportion of children aged 3 and 4 attending early childhood education,
by service type, 2000–2014

Figure K1.2 – Proportion of children aged 3 and 4 attending early childhood education, by service type, 2000–2014

Source: Ministry of Education

International comparisonTop

Using 2012 data sourced from the OECD, New Zealand ranked 12th out of 33 OECD countries for enrolment rates of 3–4 year olds (91 percent). This was above the OECD median of 86 percent, and compares with 95 percent in the United Kingdom, 52 percent in the United States and 47 percent in Australia. France and Belgium shared the top spot at 99 percent, and Turkey the lowest at 12 percent.

Data for this section can be found at: www.socialreport.msd.govt.nz/documents/2016/k1.xlsx