Additional funding announced to support Early Childhood Education.
The New Zealand government has allocated an extra $4 million towards the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Food Programme, set to begin in February 2025. The programme, delivered by KidsCan Charitable Trust, aims to provide healthy meals to 10,000 more children from low-income families. This brings the total number of recipients to 16,000, following an initial launch in 2019.
According to Associate Education Minister David Seymour, the funding comes from cost savings in the new healthy school lunch programme, announced earlier this week. The additional support is a result of the government's financial prudence and its commitment to helping Kiwi children affected by poverty.
The ECE service eligibility for the programme will be based on factors including information from the Early Childhood Education Equity Index. KidsCan will contact eligible services over the next couple of months, allowing the programme to begin early next year.
This initiative is part of a broader effort to support good nutrition in young children, as advocated by Sir Peter Gluckman's research, which highlights the importance of nutrition for early brain development.