Proposed Changes To The Education And Training Act

The Chair of the Education and Workforce Committee is calling for public submissions on the Education and Training (Teaching Council Fees and Costs) Amendment Bill.

The bill would broaden the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand’s (the Council) power to set fees for teacher registration, as well as its power to issue practicing certificates and Limited Authorities to Teach for early childhood, primary, and secondary school teachers. It also validates some fees and the receipt of fees payments.

· Part one of the bill would broaden the fee-setting powers of the Council. The Council would be allowed to fix fees so it can cover the cost of its functions and powers. It would also allow the council to recover unpaid fess as debts. This is necessary as the Council operates on a fully self-funding basis.

· Part two of the bill would retrospectively validate the receipt of payments for fees that took effect from 1 February 2021. These fees were rejected as invalid. Payments received for the invalid fees would be credited to the teacher toward future fee payments. The bill would not, however, validate the invalid fees. This is in response to the High Court’s finding that the Education and Training Act does not authorise the Council to fix fees

Tell the Education and Workforce Committee what you think

Make a submission on the bill by midnight on 22 August 2021

For more details about the bill:

· Read the full content of the bill

· Read the supplementary analysis report from the Ministry of Education

· Get more details about the bill

· Follow the bill through Parliament

· Follow the committee’s Facebook page for updates

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