Private Providers Overtake the Public Tertiary Sector in ECE Teacher Education
NEWS – 10 November 2026
Private training establishments (PTEs) have overtaken the public tertiary sector as the main provider of New Zealand’s early childhood teachers.
In 2005, the public tertiary sector dominated ECE teacher education, producing 94% of first-time domestic ECE graduates. Twenty years later, the picture has reversed.
In 2025, nearly two-thirds of first-time domestic ECE teaching graduates (62%) came from PTEs. Universities produced just 18%, while polytechnics accounted for 20%.
The shift has occurred alongside a gradual decline in university involvement in ECE teacher education. For example, in 2021, the University of Auckland cancelled a planned mid-year intake into its Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Childhood programme after applications failed to reach viable levels. Prospective students were advised of alternative study pathways, including primary teaching.
The trend stands in sharp contrast to primary and secondary teacher education, where universities remain the dominant training pathway. In 2025, universities produced 79% of first-time primary teaching graduates and 74% of first-time secondary teaching graduates.
Office of Early Childhood Education chief adviser Dr Sarah Alexander believes the growing dominance of private providers in ECE teacher education reflects much more than where new teachers choose to study.
“It reflects the declining value placed on an early childhood teaching degree, combined with the increasing privatisation of the ECE sector.”
Researchers have also expressed concern about the long-term implications of ECE teacher education moving away from universities.
Academics Olivera Kamenarac, Kiri Gould and Parisa Tadi have argued that the declining presence of ECE teacher education within universities may make it more difficult to sustain research-informed teacher education and could mean that “…the distance across the education sector and between student-teachers, research and researchers will increase and the range of voices heard in research and policy decrease.”
Universities Respond to Policy Signals
Alexander says universities have responded rationally to policy settings that have gradually reduced the value placed on specialist ECE qualifications.
“Primary and secondary teachers have clearer workforce planning, stronger professional recognition and greater certainty around pay and career progression,” Alexander said.
“In contrast, ECE has operated for years without a national workforce strategy, without full implementation of pay parity with school teachers, and with policy settings that have reduced demand for specialist early childhood teaching qualifications.”
Since November 2010, teacher-led ECE services have been able to count primary-qualified teachers towards funding requirements. In January 2020, regulations were further amended to allow certificated primary school teachers to serve as the “person responsible” in an ECE service without holding a recognised ECE teaching qualification.
“In school teaching, the message is clear: qualified teachers matter,” Alexander said.
“In ECE, the message has increasingly been that specialist qualifications are optional, interchangeable, or something that can be worked around.”
Private Providers Expand
Private providers have not only expanded their share of the domestic teacher education market, they have also become the dominant provider of ECE teacher education for international students.
In 2025, PTEs produced 645 first-time international ECE graduates, compared with 220 from universities and 25 from polytechnics.
A training provider traditionally focused on ECE also made a business decision to broaden its offerings.
Te Rito Maioha (formerly the NZ Child Care Association) expanded into primary teacher education in 2021. Its Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) attracted stronger enrolments than anticipated, followed by the introduction of a Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Primary).
Universities Face New Challenges
The shift away from universities as the main provider of ECE teacher education comes as the Coalition Government has begun pursuing significant reforms to initial teacher education (ITE).
Education Minister Erica Stanford has promoted a greater emphasis on school-based and on-site teacher training, arguing that new teachers need more practical experience before entering the workforce. The Government has also moved responsibility for reviewing and strengthening ITE quality expectations from the Teaching Council to the Ministry of Education.
The changes have prompted concern within the university sector. Education academics and university leaders have pushed back against broad criticisms of university-based teacher education programmes, arguing that policy reforms should be evidence-based and that high-quality teacher preparation requires both practical experience and a strong research foundation.
For the ECE sector, the debate raises a broader question: if universities continue to reduce their involvement in preparing early childhood teachers, who will provide the research-informed professional education needed to support a highly qualified ECE workforce?
As tertiary providers, policymakers and the teaching profession debate the future of initial teacher education, the shift away from universities as the main provider of ECE teacher education raises important questions about the future status, quality and professional identity of early childhood teaching in New Zealand.
Further articles related to this topic
Dr Fiona Westbrook (Auckland University of Technology): GenAI, Initial Teacher Education and Rapid
Reform: Why University-Sector Partnerships Matter More than Ever – to be published in Ipu Kererū
OECE News: New Zealand Is Producing About Half as Many New ECE Teachers as It Did 15 Years Ago. Why?
