Articles tagged with Early Childhood Education

New FamilyBoost Scheme Expands Eligibility and Refunds for Kiwi Families

1 month ago | 186 views

The Government has expanded the FamilyBoost scheme to provide more help with early childhood education (ECE) costs for Kiwi families, allowing households with incomes up to just under $230,000 to claim back 40% of their ECE costs, up to $300 a week. Finance Minister Nicola Willis encourages eligible families to check their eligibility on the Inland Revenue website and apply for the increased refunds. The Income Tax (FamilyBoost) Amendment Act increased the proportion of ECE fees families can claim, with an increase in the maximum amount families can claim per week and an expanded household income limit for eligibility.

Tags: Nicola Willis FamilyBoost ECE early childhood education Government Finance Minister households eligibility refunds Inland Revenue

New Legislation Enhancing Early Childhood Education Regulation for Child Safety and Clarity

3 months ago | 793 views

Associate Education Minister David Seymour has introduced new legislation to clarify the purpose of regulating early childhood education (ECE) and shift enforcement responsibilities to the Education Review Office (ERO) from the Ministry of Education. The Early Childhood Education Reform Bill prioritizes child safety, aims to reduce regulatory burden on ECE providers, and ensure consistent application of regulations nationwide. The reforms include creating a Director of Regulation, establishing key principles for ECE oversight, and streamlining processes to support high-quality ECE centers and enhance parental choice.

Tags: David Seymour Education Minister legislation early childhood education ECE Education Review Office Ministry of Education child safety regulations Director of Regulation

FamilyBoost Program Enhancements Bring Financial Relief to Thousands of Households

4 months ago | 774 views

Tens of thousands of households will be better off thanks to changes being made to FamilyBoost to help families with the cost of living, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “From the start of this month, families will get larger FamilyBoost rebates on the early childhood education fees they pay, with rebates increasing from 25 per cent to 40 per cent of weekly fees, and those with household incomes of up to $229,000 now eligible to apply. “This means for example that a family with early childhood fees of $100 a week could have their weekly FamilyBoost payment increased from $25 a week to $40 a week, meaning their annual payments would increase from $1,300 to $2,080 over the course of a year, making them hundreds of dollars better off.

Tags: Finance Minister Nicola Willis FamilyBoost households families cost of living early childhood education rebates scheme Inland Revenue

Consultation on ECE licensing criteria open

4 months ago | 908 views

Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that the Ministry of Education are now consulting on changing, merging, or removing approximately three-quarters of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) licensing criteria. “Earlier this year the ECE Sector Review instigated 15 changes to modernise and simplify regulations,” Mr Seymour says. “The changes to the ECE regulations show the power of a sector review.

Tags: David seymour Early childhood education Ministry for regulation Ministry of education Sector review Seymour Zealand

Modernising Early Childhood Education funding

4 months ago | 1031 views

Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced an Early Childhood Education (ECE) Funding Review to ensure the funding system is simple, fair, and gets value for money. Mr Seymour has established an ECE Funding Review Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG), chaired by Linda Meade to carry out this review. It will report on it’s findings this time next year.

Tags: David seymour Early childhood education Education Linda mead New zealand Review ministerial advisory group Seymour