95bFM 'Our children are missing out': Primary teachers still need support despite agreement with government
14 June, 2023
Interview by Nicholas Lindstrom, adapted by Athena Li-Watts
Primary school teachers have finally reached an agreement with the Ministry of Education after the country's largest education strike in history. But, the union says teachers still feel unsupported. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Primary teachers have voted to accept their fourth collective agreement offer, after disputing with the government over pay and conditions.
Classroom release time (CRT), has been extended from 10 hours to 25 hours, allowing educators more time away from the classroom to complete necessary tasks, such as report writing, working with smaller groups of students, and being able to observe other teachers from the same or other schools.
The agreement also offers an 18.3% pay rise for starting teachers, as well as lump sum payments to combat the cost-of-living crisis.
But NZEI Te Riu Roa council member, Liam Rutherford, told 95bFM's The Wire that the agreement doesn't help with enticing new teachers into classrooms.
"The focus needs to be on initial teacher education and making sure that when we are bringing new teachers into classrooms for the first time, that they're having really successful and enjoyable experiences because currently, it's quite patchy out there."
Rutherford said re-introducing schemes like the Voluntary Bonding Scheme which allowed newly graduated teachers between 2018 and 2022 to be paid while training to fill certain areas of need, would help draw people into the profession.
He said many teachers also feel that not all of their concerns have been addressed and are calling for more support for the growing number of classroom needs.
“We don't have enough learning support coordinators, speech-language therapists, and education psychologists.”
According to Rutherford, simply presenting teaching as an attractive career is insufficient in building an education workforce that adequately enriches children.
Instead, he believes a more deliberate and planned approach to building the education workforce is necessary.
“The longer it takes to get to that understanding, our children are missing out.”
Secondary schools are yet to reach an agreement with the Ministry, continuing rolling strike action until they believe an adequate offer is made.
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