Childcare workers speak out against ‘factory farming’ of children

NZ Herald 18 December 2017
Family First Comment: Perhaps they should survey the kids also!
More than a quarter of childcare centre workers say they would not place their own children in the centres they work in, with some calling them “akin to factory farming of children”.

A new survey of 900 early childhood teachers by the lobby group Child Forum shows 27 per cent would not enrol their own children at the service they work in.

One teacher wrote in: “Hell no! I want my children alive and I want the people educating my child to be resourced, respected, valued, qualified and experienced.”

Another said: “After only three years teaching, I have just resigned from the centre. My conscience would not let me stay part of a system that is akin to factory farming for children.”

The survey shows no improvement from a similar survey with 600 responses in 2014 in which 25 per cent of early childhood educators said they would not enrol their own children at the places they worked at.

Child Forum has expressed longstanding concerns about commercial pressures affecting the standards of care in early childhood education (ECE), but chief executive Dr Sarah Alexander said the survey was open to anyone working in the sector, not just Child Forum members.
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