Mallard Passes The Buck
Tuesday 25 Nov 2003 Deborah Coddington Press Releases -- Education
Secondary school students face uncertainty and upheaval next year with reports that principals are struggling to
provide teachers with four non-teaching hours a week - a requirement of the latest collective contract for teachers, ACT
New Zealand Education Spokesman Deborah Coddington said today.
"This mess exposes the complete failure of the centralised negotiation system supported by the PPTA and an out-of-touch
Minister," Miss Coddington said.
"It has crippled the education sector. ACT's solution would be to introduce devolved funding and allow schools and
communities the flexibility to employ more teachers to reduce stress and workload,
"Education Minister Trevor Mallard has created this situation. The introduction of the NCEA - and its increased focus
on internal assessment - has created greater workload pressures for teachers. The PPTA stipulated non-contact time in
its agreement with the Minister - partly in response to this increased workload.
"Mr Mallard had one eye on the upcoming general election when he agreed to the PPTA's demands. The teachers dispute had
dragged on for 14 months and had become a major source of embarrassment for Labour.
"Principal Brent Lewis was right when he said the non-contact agreement was a `hospital pass for schools'. The Minister
decided it was more important to win the election and let schools pick up the pieces later," Miss Coddington said.
ENDS
For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at
act@parliament.govt.nz.