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Early childhood education as a public good: Challenges and possibilities
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Early childhood education as a public good: Challenges and possibilities

Linda Mitchell Professor, Vida Botes Dr and Olivera Kamenarac
Early Childhood Folio, Vol.29(2), pp.8-14
2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.doi.org/10.18296/ecf.1158
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Education Publications
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Abstract

Early childhood education Education policy Early childhood education Equity and access to education
This article is based on the view that early childhood education (ECE) is a public good and a child’s right. As such, there is no place for ECE services to be treated as a private commodity bought and sold in the marketplace. Yet, despite policies aimed at transforming its ECE system under some forward-thinking governments, no substantial efforts have been made to shift away from a model of marketisation and privatisation in providing ECE. This article discusses recent research on the growth of publicly listed companies in the ECE sector and the consequences, where financial gains and profit-making are prioritised over educational values. ECE services have come to be seen as businesses, competing and selling commodities (“childcare” and “learning”) to parent and child “consumers”. The effects of corporatisation in Aotearoa New Zealand are illustrated through the authors’ recent research comparing a large kindergarten association with a similarly sized publicly listed ECE company. Differences in the composition of their boards (diversity of ethnicity, gender, age, and representation of parents, staff, and specialists), Education Review Office ratings, and payments to directors are analysed. The article concludes by exploring options for de-privatising ECE in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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