Principals Pleased With Package For Schools

Media Release 19 March 2013
Attention: EDUCATION AND POLITICAL REPORTERS

Principals Pleased With Package For Schools

Principals around the country have today breathed a collective sigh of relief at Novopay Minister Joyce’s announcement to pump $6million into schools to compensate them for the past and immediate on-going problems with the beleaguered payroll system.

‘The Minister has today acted on our request for compensation and delivered,’ said President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation, Philip Harding.

In January this year, the sector reference group recommended a support package for schools which included financial compensation at $500 per school plus $100 per full time teaching equivalents and the appointment of Novopay experts in the regions to support payroll staff in schools.

‘We have been extremely patient and at all times professional as we have coped with seven months of Novopay grief in our schools.’ said Harding.

‘Today the Minister has recognised the often unpaid and stressful work our pay roll staff have been dealing with for all that time. Whilst the money won’t cover all the costs for many of our schools, the $6million compensation money will go a long way to helping schools cover some of their Novopay costs and offer some relief for stressed-out staff in the immediate future,’ he said.

‘We do hope Minister Joyce can now deliver on the regional Novopay experts who are so desperately needed to help our staff stay on top of the accumulation of past errors and on-going problems Novopay continues to present.

ENDS

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