The status of children's rights in early childhood education policy 2009

Under the current National-led government the combined effects of a new political agenda and a world-wide recession have resulted in a discernible shift in policy priorities. Using a children’s rights-based lens, this paper considers changes in early childhood policy during 2009 and argues that these shifts impact the integrity of the 10-year early childhood Strategic Plan introduced in 2002. They also put in question whether children’s rights to high-quality early childhood education policy are really taken seriously within the policy arena. The issue of government’s role in providing high quality early childhood services is highlighted as one that derives from children’s citizenship rights. The paper concludes that a new critical ecology of the early childhood sector is emerging which uses a children’s rights perspective to evaluate current policy and envision possible futures.