Budget boost for pay parity

And

Kaiako (teachers) working with New Zealand’s youngest children could soon be getting a welcome pay boost.

Teachers in early-childhood centres are currently paid on average $16,000 less than kindergarten teachers, who have a collective agreement with the Government.

In a pre-Budget announcement yesterday, Education Minister Chris Hipkins committed $170 million to deliver pay parity for early-childhood teachers.

The first step is an increase in funding which would bring the lowest-paid teachers’ salaries from $49,862 to $51,358, which comes into effect from July 1 this year.

The second step is to establish a new funding rate, which services could access if they agree to pay teachers in line with the first six steps of the 10-step kindergarten teacher collective agreement, which will come into effect from July 1 next year.

That means teachers working outside the kindergarten system who have six years’ experience would be paid the same as their kindergarten counterparts with the same experience.

Hipkins, who made the announcement at Capital Kids Cooperative in Newtown to a discerning audience of under-5s, said it significantly moved earlychildhood teachers towards pay parity.

There was limited data on how many teachers would be affected by the change, and Hipkins said services would have to guarantee the funding would go into salaries.

The Government was committed to moving towards full parity in the sector, but that required rethinking the funding system.