The government recently made a series of changes to the licensing requirements for early childhood centres to be able to operate.
These include repealing the network approval provisions for people looking to establish early learning centres and removing the Person Responsible Staff requirements to have a full teaching licence.
The government justified these reforms by saying regulation cuts would make it easier for early childhood centres to operate, thus addressing Aotearoa’s teacher shortage.
However, many Kaiako working in early childhood education have said deregulation does not address the root causes of the teacher shortage, and that more focus is needed on addressing pay inequality for teachers within the sector.
For this week’s Get Action! Oto spoke to Early childhood Kaiako and member of the New Zealand Educational Institute, Hayley Cross, to discuss a petition from the union to the government calling for pay parity in early childhood education.
The number of children in New Zealand not immunised against the measles is growing, raising the possibility of another measles epidemic.
Rachel spoke to Public Health Physician at the Public Health Communication Centre, Dr Oz Manssor about the immunisation gap found in today's society and the likelihood of a measles outbreak.
The Waitangi Tribunal has urged the government not to scrap Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, which legally requires Oranga Tamariki to adhere to Treaty principles and improve outcomes for tamariki Māori in state care, before allowing adequate time for an inquiry to review the legislation.
It warned repealing Section 7AA would diminish the rights, needs, and voices of tamariki Māori and cause a strong public reaction from communities.
The tribunal also summoned Children’s Minister Karen Chhour, who is responsible for the policy, which refused, and this request was overturned by the High Court.
News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Lawyer and author of ‘Understanding Te Tiriti – a handbook about Te Tiriti o Waitangi’, Roimata Smail (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui, English, Scottish, Irish descent), about the importance of the tribunal as a watchdog of Crown actions which breach Te Tiriti.
Student-led Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been taking place at multiple Universities in the US, with encampments being set up on campus grounds.
Protesters are calling on their universities to divest investments supporting Israel, which United Nations experts and humanitarian organisations say is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Videos have shown hundreds of students and faculty members being forcefully arrested, including Columbia University in New York and the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), and students have been threatened with suspension if they do not vacate encampments.
News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to Senior Lecturer of Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland, Dr Maria Armoudian about this.
The Beths chat about their nominations in the Aotearoa Music Awards and their performances at Coachella. Courtney Dawson is on Stage Direction to chat about her Comedy Festival show Dreams are Free. Emmy Rākete is in for Ready Steady Learn to talk about her work regarding the Three Strikes law and People Against Prisons Aotearoa. Whakarongo mai nei!
Playlist
Tashi Wada - GrandTrine feat. Julia Holter
Prince - Controversy
Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee
Anna Coddington - Kaatuarehe
DIIV - Frog In Boiling Water
Nathaniel Russell - Wonderful To Be In Love
Big Sur - Lands
Gnoomes - Ule (radio edit)
Sunny Morris - Mother, It's Not My Fault
Voom - Magic feat. Fazerdaze
Earth Tongue - Grave Pressure
Adrienne Lenker - Donut Seam
P.H.F. - ENJOY
Jim Nothing - Hourglass
The Beths - Knees Deep
Romare - Rising Sun
Auto Angel - What Else But Love? feat. FABLE & Yuko Miyoshi
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