Ministerial taskforce to consider qualifications

The Ministerial Taskforce on Secondary Teacher Remuneration will consider the pay issue relating to secondary teachers who do not hold degrees, as part of its work on teacher qualifications, Education Minister Trevor Mallard said today.

After consulting ministerial colleagues, Trevor Mallard said the Taskforce was in the best position to consider the issue which revolves around a group of non-degree secondary teachers who are currently not eligible for the qualification-based salary improvements.

“I am hopeful we can resolve this issue positively. But it is disappointing that the PPTA is going to ballot its members on industrial action when the matter is still under active consideration.

“The secondary teachers’ collective agreement has been settled. I’m sure the majority of teachers, and parents as well, would want to see the issue addressed constructively without disruption to students’ education.”

The Alternative Disputes Resolution Panel recently recommended a $250 million settlement to the secondary teachers’ pay dispute that was ratified by 88 percent of the PPTA’s members, Trevor Mallard said.

“The panel at that time said it could not make a definitive recommendation about what should happen to this group. The PPTA members voted on that basis.”

“It was the panel’s clear intention to create strong incentives for the recruitment and retention of highly qualified teachers and for increasing the qualification level of all teachers in the secondary service. The Government is supportive of these aims.”

The Ministry of Education has proposed to the PPTA that teachers holding non-degree qualifications which have been assessed by NZQA as being equivalent to a degree (ie level 7 or above on the NZQA qualifications framework) should be eligible for the new maximum salary step.

‘It is also important to remember that the teachers’ salary scale has always differentiated between levels of qualifications,” Trevor Mallard said.

The Ministerial Taskforce on Remuneration is due to begin early next year.

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