Tēnā koe mō tō īmēra mai ki te Tāhuhu o Thank you for your email to the
te Mātauranga.   Ministry of Education.  

     

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Kia ora Walker,

 

Thank you for getting in touch.

 

The Ministry of Education has no authority to instruct when services
should and should not be charging fees when a child is absent.

 

I would suggest you review your service's fees policy to check what your
service's fee policy is for when a child is absent. The Ministry’s
expectation is that parents should be well informed about a service’s fee
policy before completing the child’s enrolment agreement.

 

If you feel that you shouldn't be charged fees whilst your child is
absent, you need to take this up directly with your service.

 

If you would like to make a complaint about your service to the Ministry,
you can read more about the Ministry's complaints process [1]here. You can
only do this once followed your ECE service's complaints procedure first.

 

If I can be of any further assistance, please don't hesitate to get in
touch.

 

Ngâ mihi,

 

Mark Johnson | (He/Him) | Senior Adviser Operational Funding

Te Pae Aronui

 

 

National Office Mâtauranga House

education.govt.nz

 

He mea târai e mâtou te mâtauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai
ôna huanga

We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent
outcomes

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kia ora Walker,

I do understand your concern as absence due to COVID-19 is not a standard absence and your child has no option but to not attend their ECE service.

However, as stated in my initial email, as ECE services are private entities the Ministry has no authority to instruct services what fees they should charge for absences (inclusive of enforced absences due COVID-19 isolation requirements).

There is no ECE regulation that prohibits ECE services charging fees when a child does not attend due to reasons related to COVID-19. If an ECE service has a fee policy in which they state that they continue to charge fees during periods of non-attendance, this would be inclusive of any reason for the child's absence unless stated otherwise.

You need to take this matter up with your service directly as the Ministry of Education cannot instruct your ECE service not to charge fees when children cannot attend due to COVID-19 isolation requirements.

If you're not satisfied with your ECE service's response, you are welcome to raise a formal complaint with the Ministry of Education once you have followed your ECE service's complaints procedure first.

Ngā mihi,

Mark Johnson | (He/Him) | Senior Adviser Operational Funding
Te Pae Aronui

National Office Mātauranga House
education.govt.nz

He mea tārai e mātou te mātauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai ōna huanga
We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes

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