Principals tell ministry to front up
The New Zealand Principals’ Federation is demanding the Government beefs up its collective agreement offer to primary school teachers and principals, or risk an educator exodus.
Teachers and principals are preparing to walk off the job for the first time in almost 25 years, unable to reach a consensus with the Education Ministry over pay and conditions.
New Zealand Edu- cational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa said its 50,000-strong mem- bership base had voted ‘‘over- whelmingly’’ to take industrial action.
As a result, thousands of school students will be forced from their classrooms on August 15.
Teacher training numbers have plummeted in recent years, while heavy workloads, high stress and low pay were deterring existing teachers from becoming principals – with some schools struggling to fill vacancies.
Speaking from the Czech Republic, federation president Whetu Cormick warned the problem would worsen if the Government didn’t improve its offer.
‘‘They have to front up. They have to do something. They’ve got to offer more. This is not about teachers being greedy. This is actually an investment in the future of our young people and our country.
‘‘Unless those small school principals are being paid better in the future, we could potentially have no-one applying for those jobs,’’ Cormick said.
He believed the best way to solve the problem was to increase resources and salaries, allowing teachers to gain the necessary experience for leadership positions.
NZEI president Lynda Stuart also believed finding principals to lead small schools was becoming increasingly problematic. ‘‘They are often the only adult on site for the day, so they are the principal and they’re the teacher and the office lady and everything else.’’
As part of its offer, the ministry proposed pay rises over three years ranging from 6.1 per cent at the top of the pay scale – making the maximum salary $80,600 – to a 14.7 per cent rise on the entry salary of $47,980 for university-trained teachers, bringing it to $55,030.
NZEI wants a 16 per cent pay rise over two years – at a cost it claims would be $300 million a year – as well as other measures to improve staffing and workloads.