The ECE sector has delivered an unexpected bright spot in an otherwise difficult year for New Zealand businesses. Across the country, 2025 recorded the highest number of business closures in more than a decade, with many sectors hit hard by rising costs and tightening margins. Despite these pressures, the ECE sector remained comparatively insulated.
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Anyone thinking about getting a job in ECE working in ECE or thinking about moving to a different service will find clear, practical information in this article about pay rates, employment conditions, and what to expect in different roles. It explains everything from starting salaries and pay‑step calculations to workplace rights, benefits, and how to recognise a supportive, professional environment.
Discover the key organisations and sector groups shaping early childhood education in New Zealand – who they are, what they do, and how they influence the services, policies, and people at the heart of the ECE sector.
Getting a job. How can my ECE qualification help me to get a job? With an early childhood teaching qualification you may find yourself attractive
Each year, the Office of Early Childhood Education (OECE) surveys confidence in the early childhood education (ECE) sector. The results provide a gauge of the
Five years after Olivia Xu and Elmer Zhang’s son Nelson suffered a brain injury – he was found laying on a concrete path at his early childhood centre, the couple are still in the dark about what happened and what caused the injury.
Did he slip on an icy path? they wonder. Did another child push him?
They’ll probably never know what happened.
The two teachers who were on duty in the playground of the under 2-year-old area at the Centre that freezing morning on July 27, 2020 told investigators they did not see Nelson fall because they were busy with other children.
The couple have spent $60,000 on lawyers to try to get more information about the circumstances that led up to their then-14-month-old son being in a critical condition.
They’ve been told that their only option now would be to hire a private detective.
Emotions are still raw for Xu when she recalls rushing to Nelson’s daycare after being told he’d been injured, and seeing her little boy, who had been well when she dropped him off less than an hour earlier, lying on a nappy change mat unresponsive as one of his teachers administered first aid.
This issue explores diverse curriculum perspectives, from debates about Te Whāriki’s role to Indigenous Fijian knowledge pathways, Bangladeshi curriculum development, multi‑dimensional pedagogical growth, inclusive practice, and children’s creative meaning‑making through photography.
The Wellington early childhood education centre from which David Seymour announced the ECE sector would be his new Ministry for Regulation’s first target had itself breached regulations 18 months earlier, the Office of Early Childhood Education has discovered.
The Ministry of Education spent more than $35,000 supporting the service operator to address problems identified in the breaches, Ministry documents obtained by the OECE under the Official Information Act showed.
Taking Children to an Art Gallery.
Don’t assume that art galleries are too high-brow for young children. They may not be able to tell you the name of the artist but they will still appreciate the work. Early childhood education should include exposing children to contemporary art practice in different forms.
Here are suggestions to help
I am writing to you to express concern about claims made to you by others in the ECE sector purporting that the introduction of the pay parity scheme has led to an increase in ECE centre closures – and to request that you take action to prevent the further spread of this false narrative.
A recent Ministry briefing to your office (METIS No: 1341617. Report: Options to reduce ECE service staffing costs) referenced these claims, made by the Early Childhood Council.
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