Update 5/10/12: Make a submission: Reject compulsory Early Education for 3 year olds

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Q+A: Social Development Minister Paula Bennett (10:38)

The Social Development Minister talks about the second phase of her welfare reforms,…

There has been some discussion about this where people are saying OK this doesn’t look so bad we can relax.

This is not so. We MUST NOT relax.

The Govenment should not be coming into families like this and forcing our children to be separated from us.

Back in 1877 we lost the freedom to educate our own children, at home, from ages 6-16. Now we have to apply for exemptions. Craig always lamented this fact that our forefathers let us down by not fighting for this freedom more when the Education Act was passed in 1877.  We now have to apply for exemptions for our 6 – 16 year olds.

Do we want that for our 3 -5 year olds as well? NO, definately No!!!

Paula Bennett talked on this video to make us all relax – to think that this is not going to affect all of us only the families with children at risk.

But please think again about this. This is the way that they, (the Government and NGOs), get us all feeling comfortable about these kinds of Bills. They say that it is just for the fringe few – the ones that they are concerned about. So they are bringing in a law for everyone but it is only going to affect a few families. Yes, that might be the way that they police this for the first couple of years. Then they will get tougher.

So with this law they want to pass it for all familes on the benefit. Paula Bennett says in this video that they wont be cutting the benefit for most beneficiaries if they don’t put their children into an ECE, it is only for those families that they are really concerned about.  But this is not so. Paula Bennett has said this to help us relax and feel that there is no need to fight this Bill. But once the Bill is passed it will be very difficult to get back this lost freedom. In a few short weeks/months or years after this Bill  is passed it will be applied to all beneficiaries with children in the 3 – 5 age group. Even now I have heard of families with babies as young as 6 months getting a letter this month to say that they have to go to WINZ meetings (the letter says that they have to put their child/children in care while they go to the meetings) to help them to get into the workforce.

But this wont be all. Watch what will happen next. The Government will say that this is working so well for beneficiaries (and it wont be) that they will want it to apply to everyone on the WWF and Family Support. Then eventually all 3- 5 year olds in a few years time.

Do we really want this for our children and to leave this as a legacy for our grandchildren and greatgrandchildren etc?

We need to stop this Bill at the 2nd Reading.

Missing Craig as he would have been at the forefront fighting this.

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Related Links:

• Human Rights in New Zealand Today: The right to education
• Raymond S. Moore on Early Childhood Centres
• Should preschool be compulsory?
• TVNZ One this morning Q&A with Paula Bennett
• Maxim Institute: What is best for children?
• HUGE Concerns over the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill
• Letter from Paula Bennett concerning beneficaries and home education
• Toby Manhire on Benefit-slaying Nats starting to look plain nasty
• Linking welfare to preschool attendance a world first
• New Update on: How will the new Social obligations which will be required of all beneficiary parents effect home schoolers?
• How will the new Social obligations which will be required of all beneficiary parents effect home schoolers?