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RNZ News
28-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Seymour changing who decides how much ECE teachers can be paid
David Seymour says the change will help ECE centres stay viable and not pass on costs to parents. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The Associate Education Minister is changing who decides how much new Early Childcare Education (ECE) teachers can be paid, leaving it up to individual centres to determine their starting salary - rather than be set by the government according to the pay parity scheme with primary school teachers. David Seymour says it will help ECE centres stay "viable" and not pass on costs to parents. The education union says the change scraps pay parity rates for new teachers, undermining the scheme which took decades to secure. The Greens are concerned it will drive down wages and Labour says it means new ECE teachers will be at the "whim of their employers". The Ministry of Education website explained from 1 July this year, education and care centres that are part of the pay parity scheme will be able to set the initial salary step for a newly certified teacher or teachers new to the ECE sector. The centres will no longer need to take into account "higher qualification groups, previous relevant work experience, and recognised service". Seymour said under the pay parity regime, to qualify for government funding, EC centres must pay people at certain rates and increase their pay at certain periods as determined by the government. "This is putting enormous funding pressure on the centers. "They can't absorb it anymore, but the parents and the government, who are the funders of early childhood are also under real pressure." He said the change gave a "very light amount of relief," meaning new teachers can start at a pay step "negotiated with their employer like most workers in the economy, instead of one stipulated by the pay parity regime." The pay parity regime in practice, he said, might allow for somebody who had a Master's degree in mathematics to start at a higher pay rate than someone who might be better at working at an ECE, and have more relevant skills. Under the new programme, Seymour said the person with a Master's degree might be negotiated to be paid less initially while they built up their skills, then their pay would increase. "The question is not whether people are recognised for their qualifications, but who recognises them. "I have a strong belief that the people who operate early childhood centers up and down this country, who are there looking the person in the eye, are best placed to judge what their starting pay rates should be." Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi NZEI Te Riu Roa National Executive ECE representative Zane McCarthy said it was "simply another attack on teachers' pay." He said the change will mean new teachers won't need to be paid at a level that recognises their qualifications, skills or experience, leaving it to their employers to decide their beginning pay rate instead. "It fundamentally undermines the pay parity rates we've fought for decades to achieve, and it disconnects a teacher's experience and qualifications from their pay rate." He said it was being "touted as a cost saving for employers" when the change was actually "making up for a lack of government funding". The union said the change will have far-reaching implications in a sector already experiencing a chronic teacher shortage. "This will do nothing to attract people to the profession or retain them. "It shows us how it plans to solve funding in early childhood education - not by investing in our youngest learners, but by cutting teacher pay to make up for the lack of funding provided to centres in the first place." The Greens ECE spokesperson Benjamin Doyle said it was a "kick in the teeth". Doyle said the move would lead to a reduction in wages over time, which would lead to more teachers walking away. "Make no mistake, this is a move by the government to ensure that pay increases for teachers stay low, while cutting costs to employers." Labour also slammed the change, saying new ECE teachers would be at the whim of their employers who will choose what they're paid, regardless of any higher qualifications Labour's ECE spokesperson Jan Tinetti said ECE centres will have a harder time attracting recent graduates, "a devastating blow for a sector already struggling with teacher numbers". "We introduced pay parity to ensure we could build the ECE workforce back up and reduce turnover." Seymour said there's no reason new teachers won't be paid the "going rate", it just won't be set by a "rigid government framework".
BBC News
15-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Nigel Farage clashes with teaching union over 'far right' claim
A row has erupted between Nigel Farage and Britain's biggest teaching union after it branded Reform UK a "racist and far-right" Education Union (NEU) members at their annual conference called for funds to be used to help campaign against Reform UK NEU's general secretary, Daniel Kebede, claimed there were "an awful lot of racists who are getting involved in Reform".Farage reacted angrily to Mr Kebede's claims, accusing him of encouraging "indoctrination of teenagers in our schools" and vowing that his party would "go to war" with the teaching unions if it won the next general election. The Reform UK leader campaigns for tougher action against illegal immigration and a "one in one out" policy for legal migrants to ease pressure on housing and the NHS. He has always insisted he is not a racist and has rejected calls from some Reform UK members to side with far-right activist Tommy party has also stepped up vetting of candidates ahead of May's local elections in England after a series of racism scandals during last year's general election campaign. A motion passed at the NEU's conference in Harrogate described Reform UK as a "racist and far-right party because of its policies around immigration and its campaigns against migrants".It accused the party of "scapegoating refugees, asylum seekers, Muslims, Jews and others who do not fit their beliefs".Members agreed that the union should "use the union's political fund to support campaigning against election candidates from Reform UK (whose anti-immigration policies and campaigns are racist in nature) or other racist organisations".Speaking with journalists afterwards, Mr Kebede said Farage was a "pound shop Donald Trump" who had "made a career out of dog whistle politics", but did not label him or his party "racist".Asked whether he therefore disagreed with the motion, he said: "I think there [are] an awful lot of racists who are getting involved in Reform."Pressed on whether that included Farage, he said: "I think Nigel Farage is a right-wing populist."Responding to the comments at a press conference in County Durham, Farage said Mr Kebede was a "self-declared Marxist" who was encouraging "indoctrination of teenagers in our schools".He said the union leader was "somebody who is absolutely determined that our children should be poisoned at school, their minds should be poisoned about everything to do with this country, it's history, what it stood for".He added: "I'll make one thing very, very clear: if we win the 2029 general election, we will go to war with the National Education Union and all left wing teachers' unions."People should be taught objectively, fairly and should be taught critical thinking where kids can make their own minds up what they believe and not be indoctrinated."Reform MP Lee Anderson said the NEU had "shown its true colours", adding: "Rather than focusing on educating Britain's youth, it seems more interested in political indoctrination, silencing free speech, and spreading divisive rhetoric."
BBC News
22-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Condemned Barrow school 'let down' by government, union says
Pupils whose school was closed because the building was unsafe are being let down by the government, a union has from Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Barrow, Cumbria, were forced to vacate the building in January 2023 and have been taught in different locations Education Union president Daniel Kebede said: "If this was a school in leafy Surrey action would have been taken much quicker."The Department for Education (DfE) said it is supporting the school with funding and temporary provisions so the children have a "safe and suitable education". Mr Kebede visited the school and said the pupils are lacking a building "they quite frankly deserve"."The prime minister was in Barrow [on Thursday] and it's a real shame he couldn't visit the school whilst he was here, because what I witnessed was the most amazing staff, an inspirational head teacher and fantastic children, but they are being completely let down by the government," he said. 'Disruptive to learning' Since the school closed some of the children have had to be taken by coach every day to St Bernard's High School in the town while others are being taught in Portakabins in Sacred Heart's have been moved seven times over the last two-and-a-half years, which Mr Kebede said was "incredibly disruptive to learning", and the extra work required by staff is "eating into their family life".The school has also accrued a financial deficit after spending money on temporary accommodation."What we would like to see is the government write off the deficit that has been accrued and put in the similar level of intervention that they did for schools that experienced the Raac concrete crisis," said Mr Kebede.A DfE spokesperson said the government "inherited a school estate in dire need of repair" and Sacred Heart is part of the School Rebuilding said the department was "increasing investment next year to £2.1bn to improve the condition of school buildings" and was "committed to continuing the current School Rebuilding Programme". Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
