MIT Children’s centre closure shocks families; parents demand answers
NEWS/OPINION – 12 November, 2025
Families at the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) Children’s Education Centre were told on Friday 28 November — at the centre’s Christmas party — that the service would close permanently. The surprise announcement left many parents stunned and some in tears.
Parents have criticised MIT’s decision and its impact on families and students. For many, the centre’s on‑site convenience is essential for attending classes or work; some students now face the prospect of delaying or discontinuing their studies.
MIT has said the centre is not financially viable. Parents and sector representatives, however, say the timing and lack of transparency have compounded the distress and raised questions about the centre’s actual financial position, lack of transparency and consultation.
Michelle De Bono, spokesperson for the ECE Parents’ Council, said the episode highlights a wider problem: parents are increasingly excluded from governance and decisions that affect their children’s care. “Parents’ roles have increasingly been reduced to that of service users or bill payers, rather than recognised partners in their child’s development and centre governance,” she said. “This has created a disconnect between families and the services their children attend, and has weakened accountability to local communities.”
The ECE Parents’ Council Aotearoa is running a petition calling on the government to formally recognise parents as a voice in early childhood education policy settings. “We urge everyone who cares about strong, transparent and community‑responsive ECE to add their names,” De Bono said.
Short reprieve announced
On 12 December, MIT offered a temporary reprieve, telling parents the centre will remain open for currently enrolled children until 2 April 2026 to give families time to find alternative care.
Training, research and practical benefits at risk
Former MIT ECE programme director and senior lecturer Cheryl Greenfield, who taught at the institute for 27 years, described the centre as “innovative in design for its time” and praised its spacious indoor and outdoor environment for tamariki.
She also said the centre provided valuable practicum placements: “It provided opportunities for placements for MIT student teachers and students from other tertiary education providers to see and experience quality ECE in action.”
MIT offers a level 7 Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Teaching) that leads to recognised qualified teacher status and level 5 field-based and level 4 certificate.
The centre also served as a research site where staff and students test ideas and undertake studies. Those practical and research benefits, Greenfield and others say, are difficult to quantify on a balance sheet but are central to MIT’s hands‑on training model and to the quality of its ECE graduates.
OECE chief advisor Dr Sarah Alexander urged MIT’s leadership to look beyond short‑term accounting figures. “Losing the centre would undermine MIT’s practical training model,” she said.
She warned the closure could also harm staff retention and make MIT a less attractive workplace for academics and teacher‑educators with children, since on‑site childcare would no longer be available.
Costs, numbers and local market pressures
The centre is licensed for up to 70 children, including 30 infants, and serves MIT staff, students and local families. It offers parents of 3–5‑year‑olds an extra 10 free hours in addition to the government‑funded 20 Hours ECE, and provides a 25% discount to MIT staff.
Dr Alexander noted Ministry of Education roll data for 1 July 2024 showed daily attendance of about 45 children — well below the licence capacity. She suggested MIT consider applying for a licence reduction so staffing requirements better match attendance.
Local market changes may also have affected the centre’s finances. In 2010, Otara listed 19 ECE services, only one privately owned. Today there are 42 services in the suburb, with 14 (about 33%) privately owned, increasing competition for families.
Research study examples by former MIT ECE staff
“Characteristics of Optimal Early Childhood Centre Outdoor Environments: Spaces and Places in which Children and Adults Want to Be“, by Cheryl Greenfield
“You’re Not Batman! Insiders and Outsiders: The Ecology of Discourse“, by John Jones Parry, Bill Hagan, & Helen Anderson. Manukau Institute of Technology
“Insiders and Outsiders: Observing and Assessing Children at Play“, by Bill Hagan, Helen Anderson and John Jones Parry, Manukau Institute of Technology
