NZEI welcomes new Education Minister

NZEI welcomes new Education Minister

24 April 2017

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Lynda Stuart congratulates Nikki Kaye on her promotion to Minister of Education.

“I’m looking forward to working with Minister Kaye on getting the best possible educational outcomes for our nation’s children.

“From Minister Kaye’s time as Associate Minister, we know she is full of energy and ideas, and the sector is keen to engage with her.”

Ms Stuart said the proposed replacement of the decile system would be one of the biggest issues facing the new minister and she was hopeful that Minister Parata would not try to rush through a solution in her final week in office.

“This is something we absolutely must get right and we still have a number of concerns about the privacy of children and families in regards to how the data is used.

“Also, the education funding shortfall must be addressed as part of any changes. Schools of every decile are struggling to meet the needs of their students under current budget levels – if a changed system means more funding for some and less for others, that’s going to hurt a lot of children.”

One of the other top issues in education is pay equity, with mediation currently underway for Education Support Workers employed by the ministry to work with ECE children needing additional learning support.

“Education is the next big area for pay equity claims. Education support workers are paving the way for other women working in education. Thousands of women working as teacher aides, and support staff in schools, are next in line for pay equity talks, with ECE teachers close behind,” said Ms Stuart.

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