Nick Smith National Education Spokesperson

23 November 2001

Pay or Delay, Smith tells Govt on NCEA

Students will be the big losers if the Government tries to implement the new school qualification system, NCEA, on the cheap, says Opposition Education spokesperson Nick Smith.

This follows today's teacher announcement that no further work will be undertaken on the NCEA until the teachers' contract negotiations are concluded.

"The Government faces the choice of pay or delay. It cannot expect teachers to do the extra work required for the new qualification for nothing. It must not allow students' qualifications to be messed up again next year. If the Government cannot find the money to properly implement the new qualification next year, it should delay implementation until 2003."

"The Government has only itself to blame over the on going school disruption. In Opposition, Labour cynically raised huge expectations amongst teachers by criticising National's teacher pay settlements as mean.

"Now it is offering teachers less in pay and more in work which has inevitably led to disruption. The Government must settle the contract or postpone implementation of the NCEA," says Nick Smith.

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