Early childhood centres to reject pay parity offer

Some early childhood providers say they will not be able to afford to be part of the government’s pay parity offer, with many poised to reject it.

The scheme is designed to bring pay for the lowest-paid early childhood teachers in line with what their colleagues at kindergartens earn. The centres are able to access extra government funding if they agree to pay teachers in line with the first five steps of the kindergarten teachers’ collective agreement.

The Early Childhood Council (ECC) surveyed its 1200 members and reported 24 per cent said they would opt in to the scheme. Seventy per cent said they would either reject the offer, or were still unsure. Providers have until the end of the week to sign up.

ECC said the extra funding fell short of the increased teacher wage rates for most centres. One centre owner told the ECC they felt their hand was forced. ‘‘There’s a teacher shortage already, and we’ll be unable to retain staff if we don’t opt in. This will cost us over $50k.’’

Another said they were concerned about the centre’s finances. ‘‘Without extra government support we may have to close our small, fee-free total immersion Ma¯ ori centre.’’

Of the centre owners surveyed, 70 per cent said they were uncomfortable with agreeing to match the kindergarten teachers’ collective agreement because they did not have any say in its terms, and it was up for renegotiation in 2022.

The sector was ‘‘promised pay parity progress, and given uncertainty’’, acting ECC chief executive Sue Kurtovich said. ‘‘Everyone wants to pay teachers what they’re worth but there are too many unanswered questions.’’

The scheme was tweaked two weeks ago. Centres would previously have had to agree to match six steps of the kindergarten agreement, but that was reduced to five. Teachers who meet the requirement for step six pay would not be paid the rate until January 2023.

This was changed to encourage more services to take part in the pay parity agreement, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said.

Unions weren’t happy with the move, with NZ Education Institute president Liam Rutherford calling it ‘‘backpedalling’’.

Seventy per cent said they would either reject the offer, or were still unsure.