Today the Government announced the annual Budget, which includes significant investment for education.

In total, Budget 2022 includes over $2 billion in operating funding and $855 million in capital funding across the system.

Highlights in Budget 2022 for early learning include:

• $265.6 million for another step towards pay parity between certificated teachers in education and care services, and their equivalents in kindergartens. This builds on the $170 million provided through Budget 2021 and the $151 million in Budget 2020. On top of this, there is also funding set aside to improve pay for kaimahi in kōhanga reo.
• $231.8 million to fund a 2.75% increase to early childhood education subsidies, to help maintain quality and affordability.
• Increased funding for First Signs, Incredible Years Programmes and to expand Tapasā.
• Funding to begin work to implement a new Equity Index in early learning.

For more detailed information please see our website:

Support for early learning services – Ministry of Education

We are at the final stage of formal consultation on network management for licensed early childhood services. This is your opportunity to have your say on the priorities for national and regional statements and the policy for new regulations. Consultation opened on 14 April and will close on Thursday 2 June.

In 2021 we consulted on nine proposals for a network management function that all received broad support. This final consultation will help the Government decide what types of new services should be prioritised for the network and finalise the remaining policy needed for new regulations. After this consultation, we will continue to engage with the sector on the operational aspects of network management.

The consultation document summaries are translated into te reo Māori and nine Pacific languages.

Early learning regulatory review – Kōrero Mātauranga

The surveys are in English and te reo Māori.

Online English survey – Ministry of Education

Online te reo Māori survey – Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

You can find answers to frequently asked questions on our website:

Network management FAQs – Ministry of Education

By having a say, you can help shape the future of the early learning sector. If you have any other questions or suggestions about the review, email earlylearning.regulatoryreview@education.govt.nz.

The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) is currently being considered by Parliament. It proposes a number of changes to the law, including police vetting requirements that will impact licensed early childhood services. 

The amended bill will ensure that licensed early childhood services must obtain police vets for all non-teaching and unregistered employees (who are not children’s workers) before they begin work.

Currently, employers have a two-week period to apply for a police vet for these workers. 

The bill will remove the two-week period and make the Education and Training Act 2020 consistent with the Children’s Act 2014 comprehensive safety checking requirements to ensure the safety of all tamariki.

The bill is expected to be passed by 1 August 2022.

The Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) – NZ Legislation

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 within our presenting team, we’ve had to postpone the webinar for home-based services that was scheduled to take place today. We are sorry to have to change the day. All registered participants were emailed directly about this change.

The details of the rescheduled webinar are:

Counting the percentage of qualified educators in your home-based licence: who do you count, when and how?

Monday 23 May 2022, 1-2pm

Registration form – Teams webinar

A recording of the webinar will be available to registered attendees.

This presentation is designed to give service providers an overview of the requirements from 1 June and how it applies to them.

If you have any questions in the meantime, you can contact your local Te Mahau advisor or email us at ece.funding@education.govt.nz.

We know winter illnesses and COVID-19 pose additional staffing challenges for early learning services with increased staff.

A reminder, we have information about planning for staffing absences.

Guidance: Planning for staffing challenges [PDF, 124 KB]

While it’s important that early learning services are open for children who need to attend, the health and safety of your service and community must come first.

We have emergency closure funding if you need to close due to staff illness.

Emergency closure: Funding settings under the new traffic light system – Te Mahau

Another resource to support you:

Risk assessment and planning: COVID-19 Protection for early learning services – Te Mahau

Contact your local Te Mahau office if you need further support.

Local Te Mahau offices – Ministry of Education

On 1 July, we will pay the next instalment of ECE funding to licensed early learning services that have submitted their RS7 return up to and including Tuesday 7 June. 

If you submit your RS7 return after 7 June but before 7 July, you will receive funding on Wednesday 20 July.

Please note that this information does not apply to playgroups.

Key funding dates for the upcoming July 2022 payment are as follows: 

We will send an email acknowledging receipt of the RS7 return to your service.

If you do not receive an acknowledgement email within two to three working days of your submission, check your student management system (SMS) or ELI Reports or contact us at ece.funding@education.govt.nz. 

You can access your electronic funding notices for the 1 July 2022 funding through the secure data portal on the date of payment. We do not provide confirmation of payment amounts prior to this date.

For further information about the Secure Data Portal and accessing electronic funding notices you can contact us at ece.securedataportal@education.govt.nz.

You should submit your data using your SMS, ELI web or a paper-based RS7 return. 

Paper RS7 return forms were sent to services not using an SMS or ELI Web on Friday 13 May. Email us if you have not received this form ece.funding@education.govt.nz.

If you have changed your SMS or undergone a change of ownership during the funding period, you may need to submit some or all data via a paper RS7 return. 

For more information about the RS7 return, see RS7 return questions and answers on the ELI homepage or email eli.queries@education.govt.nz.

Early Learning Information (ELI) reports – Ministry of Education

You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the data submitted. Resubmissions are available to correct genuine errors or oversights that emerge later.

Resubmissions:

• for the February to May 2022 period should be made electronically
• for the July 2021 to January 2022 period, should be submitted on paper RS7 forms.

Submissions relating to any time before June 2021 will not be processed. Resubmissions may be audited by our Monitoring team.

Funding rules, refer to the ECE Funding Handbook:

ECE Funding Handbook – Ministry of Education

Funding rules under the COVID-19 Protection Framework:

Funding settings under the new traffic light system – Te Mahau

Electronic RS7 returns and ELI are available on the ELI homepage:

Early Learning Information (ELI) reports – Ministry of Education

For any questions, or if you need to discuss any funding issues, contact Resourcing Support from Monday to Friday 8am-5pm:

Phone: 0800 323 323

Email: resourcing@education.govt.nz.

For any licensing or general operational matters or if you require any updates to your service’s contact details, contact your local Te Mahau office.

Local Te Mahau offices – Ministry of Education

Teacher-led, centre-based and hospital-based services can use up to 80 discretionary hours in the February to May 2022 funding period. A discretionary hour is an hour that a service can claim an unqualified teacher marked as an ‘other teacher’ as a ‘certificated teacher’ for the Staff Hour Count.

If your service uses discretionary hours during the current funding period, you must submit a record of the total number of discretionary hours used along with the RS7 before Tuesday 7 June. This information will assist us to support services going forward. If no hours have been used, then no submission is required. 

If you use an approved student management system (SMS) and require assistance providing the information, contact your SMS provider.

If you submit paper-based RS7s or use ELI Web and have used discretionary hours during a funding period, you must submit this report along with your RS7 by 5pm on Tuesday 7 June.

Discretionary Hours report form – 80 Hours [PDF, 275 KB]

Completed form should be returned:

Post: ECE Operational Funding, Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140

Email: ece.funding@education.govt.nz

Note, do not complete the form if your service has not used any discretionary hours.

For more details on the requirements for discretionary hours, see Chapter 3-B-2 of the Funding Handbook on our website:

3-B-2 Teacher-led education and care services – Ministry of Education

Early learning services that have received income of over $80,000 (including GST) from the Ministry and have operated for a full financial year must submit audited financial statements along with a copy of the declaration form to us by Thursday 30 June.

Declaration form for financial reporting for the financial year ending in 2021 [PDF, 821 KB]

The completed form should be returned by:

Post: Resourcing Division, Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140

Email: resourcing@education.govt.nz.

You can read more about the financial reporting requirements in Chapter 12 of the Funding Handbook and on financial declarations on our website: 

Chapter 12: Financial reporting – Ministry of Education

Financial declarations – Ministry of Education

Your service may see several protections applied to your funding during the July 2022 funding round. These protections are intended to provide financial support following the disruptions caused by the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

All funding protections will be automatically applied to your funding from the 20 July 2022 payment. Services only need to complete their RS7 return as usual for any protection to be applied.

The final month of no negative wash-up for services will be applied to the February 2022 wash-up.

If your service experienced a negative wash-up during February 2022 your service will receive a reimbursement for the wash-up amount.

The calculation used to determine a service’s wash-up combines both the ECE subsidy and 20 Hours ECE wash-up. A letter summarising the calculation will be uploaded to the Secure Data Portal on the date of payment.

A service’s funding band for the July 2022 funding round will be no lower than the advance funding band a service received during the March 2022 funding round.

This protection applies to all funding bands, including those on 100%, and will apply to both the wash-up and advance funding rates calculated for the July 2022 funding round.

Teacher-led centre-based services include kindergartens, education and care services and hospital-based services.

The usual calculation rules for funding bands will apply during the November 2022 funding round for both wash-up and advance funding rates.

Home-based services, playcentres and ngā kōhanga reo that were on the quality rate on 1 February 2022 will remain on the quality rate for the February to May period.

From 1 June 2022 a new funding period will start, and the usual rules will apply.

You can find a summary of the funding protections applied since the November 2021 funding round on our website:

Funding settings under the new traffic light system – Te Mahau

We are moving into the next phase in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with New Zealand’s borders opening fully on Sunday 31 July.

For those of you who may be considering recruiting teachers internationally, there are two major changes to be aware of.

• The new Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) comes into effect on Monday 4 July. It is a three-step process and requires schools, kura and early learning services to be accredited to hire a migrant. Employers will also need to apply for a job check for each role before they can offer the role to a migrant.
• All 300 places in the teacher border exceptions scheme have now been allocated. As there may be a small number of withdrawals, a waitlist is in place for schools and early learning services who have an urgent need and a credible pathway to get the teacher into New Zealand prior to July.

Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) – Immigration NZ

Border exceptions for teachers – Te Mahau

If you want to find out more about the new AEWV or ask questions about international recruitment more generally, you have the option of attending one of our webinars. We are running these jointly with Immigration New Zealand.

Please use the Teams links at the start of the meeting to enter.

Session one: Monday 23 May 2-3pm

International recruitment webinar session one – Teams

Session two: Thursday 26 May 5-6pm

International recruitment webinar session two – Teams

If you have any immediate questions, please reach out to your local Te Mahau office. 

Alternatively, email the Teacher Supply team: teacher.supply@education.govt.nz.

From Tuesday 24 May, an updated My Vaccine Pass will be available for anyone aged 12 and over who are up to date with their vaccinations.

For those aged 18 and over, ‘Up to date’ means that they have received two doses and a booster dose. For those aged 12 to 17, it means two doses only. Vaccine passes continue to not be available for those under 12.

While My Vaccine Pass is not legally required, people are encouraged to have a copy of their pass for when it might be needed. Some businesses, rest homes and other non-essential organisations are voluntarily keeping My Vaccine Pass requirements as a condition of entry.

If your service policy is that some roles require someone to be vaccinated to fill them, you can use the My Vaccine Pass to evidence their vaccine status.

A temporary My Vaccine Pass can be requested for someone who has not had all the required vaccinations because they have had COVID-19 in the last three months (available from Tuesday 31 May).

How to update your My Vaccine Pass – Unite Against COVID-19