STUDENTS' EDUCATION SUFFERING NEEDLESSLY

"Thursday April 2 is a black day for education as tens of thousands of students face losing a day's education because of unjustified industrial action by the secondary teachers' union," Education Minister Wyatt Creech said today.

"The PPTA has tried to dress up its claims that strike action is warranted, but the facts show it isn't. The Ministry of Education negotiators want to talk to the PPTA but the union has to come back with a more realistic position.

"We want to develop a pay package that rewards, recruits and retains quality teachers," Mr Creech said. "We want to talk to the PPTA about this.

"The PPTA pay claim is so large that it alone would cost more than the total extra announced for education in the 1997 Budget. The Ministry of Education has estimated the cost of the PPTA's claim at about $200 million a year - or $600 million over the three year Budget cycle.

"Secondary teachers' salaries can't keep soaking up all the additional education expenditure.

"In August 1996 the secondary teachers' contract was settled with average pay increases of 13%. Everyone else was getting average pay increases of about 2%. And now the PPTA is coming back with demands for 12.5% average pay rises.

"The PPTA said just before the settlement of their contract that they would not be coming back for large pay increases this time around because it was the primary teachers' turn. Claiming 12.5% increases does not stack up with that approach.

"But it isn't only money the PPTA wants. It wants to negotiate Government policy in pay talks. "The Treaty of Waitangi is the foundation document of New Zealand. It belongs in many areas of our lives but it is not a pay talks issue. The status of teacher training colleges and the overall level of resources provided to schools are Government policy decisions. They are worked out in the annual Budget - not employment contract negotiations.

"We are prepared to listen and talk to the PPTA about these issues but not in pay talks," Mr Creech said.

Mr Creech took issue with the union's claim that nothing had been done about teacher workload.

"We are not ignoring workload concerns or refusing to discuss them. The Government has already taken action to alleviate workload pressures in these areas. A lot of these initiatives will flow through to schools in 1998," Mr Creech concluded.

Outlined below are the Budget 1997 announcements which will help reduce teacher workload. ENDS

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The PPTA blames their extra workload on extra social problems among students, extra administrative tasks, extra responsibilities to train new teachers, extra responsibilities because of curriculum and qualifications changes and extra curricula activities.

Budget 1997 funding for initiatives in these areas include:

Social Problems Truancy initiatives $9.6 million extra
Drug education $3 million extra
Special Education 2000 $150-$200 million extra to pay for special programmes to help students with special education needs, including those with severe behaviour problems.
Strengthening Families
Other non education initiatives in social welfare, health and youth justice.

Training New Teachers Teacher Supply Initiatives $36 million extra to lift the number of teachers' trained to meet future demand. Included in this funding is extra help and support for schools that employ newly trained teachers.
Teacher Professional Development $40 million: ensures that once teachers get into the classroom their skills are updated to cope with changing teaching practise and new curricula and qualifications.

200 Maori Language Teachers Teacher scholarships 480 scholarships to attract Maori, Maori language teachers and other teachers in short supply
$11 million to ease workload for Maori New Maori language classroom resources, support for Maori language secondary teachers and specialist maths and science advisors.
Maori language curriculum statements
Curriculum and Qualifications changes Teacher Professional Development $40 million
Support materials to help teachers teach curriculum $6 million
Training assessment in NQF $1.8 million
Trials of NQF implementation $5.7 million
Resource Guides $5.8 million
New timelines to implement new curriculum statements have been agreed to.
Administration Tasks Operations Grant funding $61 million
School Admin/Support Clusters $5 million