The equity index

Eligibility for Component A is based on the Equity Index (EQI). This index measures the extent to which a service draws children from low socio-economic communities.

The EQI is worked out on the basis of enrolled children’s addresses and information taken from the New Zealand Census 2006. The EQI for casual services is determined using the average for all other ECE services in the same area.

Eligibility for funding

Licensed ECE services with an EQI of 1, 2, 3 or 4 are eligible to receive Component A Equity Funding.

Your EQI

Your service’s EQI is found on your service’s Early Childhood Education Funding Notice.

How is funding calculated?

The level of funding paid to each eligible service is determined by:

• its EQI and
• the funded child hours claimed by the service in the RS7 Return process.

Each actual funded child hour is multiplied by the relevant funding rate.

As with the ECE Funding Subsidy, Equity Funding may not exceed six hours per child-place per day (or per child for 20 Hours ECE), to a maximum of 30 hours per child-place per week (or per child for 20 Hours ECE).

Applications

Applications for Component A are not necessary. The Ministry of Education calculates the EQI for each licensed ECE service and notifies services that are eligible for funding.

For an EQI to be calculated, each service must provide certain details about the children enrolled in the service and their families. This information is collected at 2 points in the year. The Ministry will contact new services when the information is being collected.

• If your service has recently opened, then you should wait to be contacted by the Ministry of Education. Your service will automatically be included in the next ‘new service’ process. You will be contacted by the Ministry with details of the information you will need to provide, and instructions for how to gather this.
• If your service has had a change of service provider, then you should contact the Resourcing Contact Centre. They will ensure that you are contacted at the time of the next ‘new service’ process.
• If your service has previously chosen not to have an EQI calculated, but would now like to, then you should contact the Resourcing Contact Centre on 0800 ECE ECE (0800 323 323). They will ensure you are contacted at the time of the next ‘new service’ process.

Applying for a review of your EQI

A new service can apply for a review of their initial EQI rating once only in their first year of operation either in March or July.

Services with an EQI of 2, 3, 4 or 5+ are eligible to apply for a review of their EQI if they are able to provide evidence that:

• the service’s community profile has changed significantly since their EQI was issued or
• the service’s individual catchment area has changed significantly since their EQI was issued.

The review of EQI process is available once a year. For more information, contact the Resourcing Contact Centre on 0800 ECE ECE (0800 323 323).

Expenditure

All Equity Funding is ‘tagged’ and must be spent with the equity objectives for participation and quality in mind.

Below are some suggestions for uses of Component A funding:

• purchase additional curriculum resources and an increased range of supplies
• subsidise learning experiences outside the service
• meet children’s nutritional needs
• provide assistance to attend the service (e.g. transport assistance)
• provide extra professional development for staff and extra education for whānau | families
• improve learning spaces
• help staff to train or upgrade their qualifications
• reimburse expenses of voluntary helpers
• introduce staff recruitment and retention initiatives
• promote the availability of the service within the community.

These are just some examples of ways that Component A Equity Funding can be used.