Teacher strikes ‘almost certain’

A Far North primary school principal last week warned the Ministry of Education to “wake up” to the fact that joint strike action by primary and secondary teachers next year was “almost certain”.

Primary and intermediate teachers and principals “overwhelmingly” rejected the Government’s latest pay offer, costing $698 million, in a secret online ballot that closed on Tuesday night last week.

Kaeo Primary School principal Paul Barker, the NZEI principals’ representative for Te Tai Tokerau, said he wasn’t surprised by the result of the vote, adding that he believed joint strike action with secondary school teachers was now “almost a certainty”.

“There was no recognition of workload and class size issues (in the new offer), and until the Ministry of Education recognise the pressure schools, teachers and principals are under in regards to that, it seems impossible for an agreement to be reached,” he said.

Iona Holsted, Ministry of Education secretary for education, said the NZEI’s concerns about workload were being addressed in a number of ways, including the Government’s spending of an extra $500m for learning support and $40m to boost teacher supply in the short to medium term.

Mr Barker said he didn’t know where that money was being spent, but he wasn’t seeing it.

“They need to wake up and see what the real situation is.

“They need to get off their bottoms and start supporting schools again,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NZEI was receiving feedback from members on what sort of action they would want to take next year if an improved offer wasn’t made. Members had already taken strike action twice this year.

Myles Ferris, Te Kura o Otangarei ¯ principal and president of Te Akatea Ma¯ori Principals’ Association, said he voted to reject the offer. And it was about more than salaries.

“For us, particularly for Ma¯ori principals and teachers, it’s more than just a pay rise — that’s the least of our problems. The issue is trying to attract people into the profession,” he said.

The goal was to have 30 per cent of Ma¯ori students in full Ma¯ori immersion learning by 2032, which would require a minimum of about 270 new te reo Ma¯ori teachers per annum.

“Currently we’re only producing 40, so we do need a lot more teachers,” Mr Ferris said.

“Sourcing them from overseas is not the answer, because they come into our country and don’t understand what it means to educate the Ma¯ori child, they don’t understand our culture, and it takes a while to get up to speed.

“Let’s face it, in Ma¯ori medium we can’t go overseas to get new teachers, so where are we going to find them?”