5395 (2026). Hon Jan Tinetti to the Associate Minister of Education

5395 (2026). Hon Jan Tinetti to the Associate Minister of Education: What steps is the Government taking to balance the costs of achieving pay parity in ECE with the need to ensure service viability?

Hon David Seymour: Two changes have been made to the pay parity opt-in scheme under the current Government, this includes: 1) Limiting the scheme to permanently employed certificated teachers in opted-in services eligible to be paid according to the minimum salary scales. 2) Enabling service providers to determine the initial salary step for newly certificated teachers and certificated teachers who are new to working in the New Zealand ECE sector, for a two-year period while the ECE Funding Review takes place.