Teachers vote for term on strike
Secondary teachers around New Zealand have been meeting to discuss the Government’s response to teacher shortages, as well as other matters relating to pay and conditions.
Last week the round of Paid Union Meetings came to Taupo¯, with more than 200 teachers from the Central Plateau region meeting at the Cosmopolitan Club. In total more than 17,000 secondary teachers were considering an offer from the Government to settle their collective agreement. Last Friday, they rejected the Government’s second pay offer, and voted to strike in term one.
“The offer comes at a time when shortages of teachers in classroom are impacting the future of our young people,” says Central Plateau Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) regional chairwoman Isabel Rangiwananga.
“We believe the Government needs to present an offer that will make a career in teaching an attractive option.
“Evidence from overseas studies shows that teacher shortages will never be addressed if pay and conditions for the profession aren’t attractive.”
Central Plateau PPTA national executive representative Glen Cassidy addressed the meeting.
His message was that teachers teach because they want to bring out the best in our kids and because they play a critical role in making New Zealand a better place for to live and grow.
Amongst the negatives in teaching, he said there was the unprecedented shortages of teachers, burnout due to high workloads, not enough support for students who need extra help and too much bureaucracy and not enough time with students.
“A decade of neglect is taking its toll on all of us — and our young people’s education is suffering.”
He said it was the Government’s role to fix this crisis and that would mean pay and conditions that allow teachers to bring out the best in every child.