7 May 2013

Novopay – schools need to get back to the future

Schools are back where they were at the start of the Novopay debacle, with no certainty teachers will be paid for at least the next two years, the Green Party said today.

The Government today announced that Talent2 will continue to administer the school payroll system, but that its long term future will stay under review.

“Schools have been given no guarantee the Novopay dramas are over, teachers have been given no guarantee they’ll be paid properly from now on, and parents can have no assurances it is calm seas ahead for their kids’ education,” Green Party Co leader and education spokesperson Metiria Turei said.

“The announcement lacks any assurances that the Novopay debacle is over for anyone.

“Today’s announcement was clearly a rushed job, designed to deflect attention from National bully boy Aaron Gilmore who John Key is publicly backing over a restaurant worker Mr Gilmore abused.

“Everything this Government has done for schools in the past few years has been destabilizing, from class sizes and Christchurch school closures, to National Standards and Novopay,” Mrs Turei said.

“Ministers should never have pushed the go live button on Novopay in the first place.

“While error rates have obviously been improving with the intervention of Ministry staff, the reported error rate of less than 0.5 per cent that Steven Joyce quotes is only acceptable for a stable system.

“Novopay is not a stable system.

“We only hope that today’s announcement to stick with the problem plagued system is not history repeating itself,” Mrs Turei said.

ENDS

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