Bay of Plenty Principal to Lead Education Union

Bay of Plenty Principal to Lead Largest Education Sector Union

Bay of Plenty principal Ian Leckie will lead the education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa, after being elected President at its Annual Meeting in Rotorua.

NZEI has 50,000 members made up of school support staff, early childhood teachers, as well as teachers and principals from primary, intermediate and area schools around the country.

Ian Leckie is the Principal of Tahatai Coast School in Papamoa. He has been a member of NZEI for almost 40 years and has served on its National Executive since 2004. He was NZEI Vice President in 2008-9. He became a principal in 1981 and is a well-known school leader in the Coromandel, Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions.

He has been elected for a two year term and takes over from Frances Nelson who has headed the organisation for three years.

Ian Leckie says he is honoured to have the opportunity to lead the profession through what will be challenging times ahead.

“We are already facing some big threats in education. National Standards threaten our professional integrity, the early childhood profession is being undermined by funding cuts and support staff continue to have to fight for recognition and fair pay. There is also growing disquiet over the government’s privatisation agenda for education and its lack of commitment to closing the pay gap with Australia through the current round of teacher and principal pay negotiations.”

“We need to work hard to make the government listen to the voice of those at the coalface of teaching and learning and the communities and children they represent,” Ian Leckie says.

The deputy principal of Kaurilands School in west Auckland, Frances Guy has been elected as NZEI Vice President. She has been a member of NZEI for 40 years and has been on its National Executive for five years. She has been a key player in teacher pay negotiations and this year is the lead negotiator on NZEI’s primary teacher collective agreement bargaining team.

Ian Leckie and Frances Guy will take over their new positions at the beginning of 2011.

ENDS

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