DESCRIPTORS Accreditation (Institutions); Budgets; *Day Care

This review chapter summarizes developments in early childhood care and education in New Zealand in 1991, focusing on government actions affecting the field. Initial discussion covers the revised guidelines for obtaining charters, or accreditation, for child care centers and service providers. It is maintained that these guidelines fail to address services for children from different cultural backgrounds, specifically aboriginal Maori children. Four governmental reviews of the early childhood sector are then discussed. These reviews cover: (1) aspects of the Education (Early Childhood Centres) Regulations of 1990 that relate to property; (2) funding of early childhood care and education under the 1991 national budget; (3) staffing, training, and qualifications; and (4) the Early Childhood Development Unit. The paper is critical of the fact that the 1991 budget called for less stringent qualifications of earl