© ChildForum

A new survey shows New Zealanders are happy with the early childhood education their children receive in the country's kindergartens.

The Kiwis Count survey is designed to measure satisfaction with a range of state services in categories including education, justice and welfare.

The findings were based on  a survey of just over 1000 people between April and September this year. The results are measured in a quality rating out of 100 for each area surveyed.

In the latest update, kindergartens scored a rating of 77 out of 100, up four points from 2007 and one point higher than the 2009 rating.  Although the survey is about state services it is not clear from the report whether respondents were talking about public kindergartens which receive more government funding or private kindergartens.

The Education Review Office also scored well rating 70 out of 100.

Improving public sector services is a current focus for the government, which is aiming to make the public sector more efficient and control budgets.

The survey which used to be taken at a fixed point in time is now issued as a quarterly update with information collected during each preceding period. The next update is due in February.