Teacher Aides aren't treated fairly, says Ash Holwell

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
07 June 2017

Greens candidate first to take in ‘day in the life’ of teacher aides.

On Friday June 2nd, Ash Holwell was the first political candidate in Whangarei to spend time walking the shoes of a teacher aide. The visit is part of a nationwide programme by NZEI to improve our political leaders understanding of the work environment and conditions of support staff, and the needs of the young people they work with.

“What I saw was a nationwide problem that is caused by the government policy around funding of the operations grant and underfunding of the education sector,” says Ash Holwell.

“These teacher aides invest an immense amount of extra hours, their own money, and deal with job insecurity, all to do the best for our children.

“I understand that schools want to pay their support staff better but because of the freeze on the operations grant and the on-going underfunding schools simply can’t afford to pay support staff anymore.

“We need a government that will treat them with the respect they deserve.” says Ash Holwell.

Whangarei Primary School invited Ash to join them for the day, with the candidate getting a deep insight into the work of support staff, hearing how much the teachers rely on their contributions, and leaping at the chance to teach games to the students.

“They’re on short fixed term contracts. This means they don’t know if they will have a job next term, or next year. Others have been there thirty years on a little more than the minimum wage, and most have second jobs. No one should have to live with that insecurity. What does it say to our children, when we can’t even cater for the people who care directly for them?” asks Ash Holwell.

“This government hasn’t lifted a finger in six months of basic pay negotiations with the nation’s support staff, let alone listen to their needs for central funding. It’s diabolical that schools should have to choose between toilet paper or a teacher aide because they are lumped into operations funding.” says Ash Holwell.

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