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Area school teachers have voted to accept a collective agreement offer that will give them a 14.5 percent increase over three years.
The agreement is based largely on the recent settlement of the secondary teachers’ collective agreement.
NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiators Lagi Leilua and Kaareen Hotereni says the increase to the Māori immersion teaching allowance and the introduction of a Pasifika bilingual immersion teaching allowance are significant wins, and will have a flow-on effect of attracting more Māori and Pasifika teachers into the sector.
Other wins include better sick leave entitlements, a cultural leadership allowance for every area school, better pay rates for day relievers and payment of certification fees for beginning teachers.
Non-contact time which will more than double for some teachers, giving teachers more time to plan, assess and give individual attention to students.
Area schools are state schools in rural and often isolated settings which provide for students from Years 1 through to 13.
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