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December 01, 2022
Area school principals reject pay offer
Gideon Porter
Posted On December 1, 2022
Download AudioArea school principals have joined teachers in rejecting the Education Ministry’s offers to settle collective agreements.
NZEI Te Riu Roa’s principals’ council member Ripeka Lessels from Kawerau, who led the area schools negotiations, says the ministry and Government are out of touch with reality.
She says the money on offer doesn’t cover increases in the cost of living, and they’ve ignored concerns about offers health and well-being.
The pandemic added huge stress to principals’ already challenging jobs… and many are now close to breaking point.
“You know one of the claims that the principals did put together was around the health and well-being of principals… and that it needed to be done pretty smartly if we wanted to maintain the principals in their jobs currently – and we don’t believe they’ve gone far enough to doing that,” Ms Lessels says.
She says a failed ministry bid to ax 53 Maori resource teacher positions across the country served to unify teachers.
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