14 February 2013

Paying teachers must be as simple as 1, 2, 3

Independent MP Brendan Horan today called for Steven Joyce to immediately dump Novopay. “Paying teachers and educating children must be a priority and should be as simple as 1, 2, 3,” he said.

There are three key steps that Ministers must action to show they are taking responsibility: First, ditch Australian IT company Talent2 and Novopay. As a school principal said, “We want reassurances that our staff are going to be paid appropriately and on time. All workers in NZ deserve that, it’s not something special. You need to get it fixed you need to get it fixed now.”

Former Secretary of Education Lesley Longstone wrote of Talent2 “My personal observations are that promises are made and not kept. … There is a lack of executive direction and engagement and that there is no customer service ethos”

Second, Ministers must focus on children’s education. The word around the Bay of Plenty is that Novopay has taken far too much time and effort away from education. It is time for Ministers to step up to the plate and return everyone’s attention to learning.

The third thing Ministers must do is create public service capacity to effectively manage and implement software contracts using world-class New Zealand ICT businesses. This has the economic benefit of downstream expenditure into our economy. Giving huge contracts to overseas companies sends hard-earned taxpayer dollars offshore.

Plenty of New Zealanders know how to manage projects well so that they incrementally succeed. Right now, our children, our principals, our teachers and our parents deserve better.

There is a New Zealand company that has a track record of reliably paying teachers and the capability to do so. Perhaps it is time to get Datacom back on the job.

“The time for action is now., said Brendan Horan

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>