A $68 million administrative error by the Ministry of Education has left schools across the country concerned about how their future short-term relief staffing entitlements will be affected.
Education Minister Hekia Parata revealed the error had been occurring for the past decade, and was detected this week when the ministry's new payroll system, Novopay, was launched.
Each year, schools received an entitlement to a certain number of Full-Time Teaching Equivalents (FTTEs), depending on roll numbers.
Each fortnight, schools received a report showing how much entitlement they had used, and how much is remaining.
Schools counted both permanent and relief teachers against this balance, but due to an administrative error, short-term relief teachers had been counted at about half their correct rate during the past 10 years, she said.
There had been no wrongdoing on the part of any schools, and teachers had not been under or over paid, she said.
"The error has meant the sector was boosted by around $68 million last year.
"This has not been shared equitably among all schools.
"The Government has made a commitment to keep that resource within the sector, but we want to ensure it is distributed equitably amongst all schools and learners."
New Zealand Principals' Federation president Paul Drummond said for many schools, the change would be concerning for principals and boards of trustees.
Effectively, schools got $68 million more than they were supposed to, and now that the error had been discovered, schools could be left with fewer teaching resources, he said.
"This is bad for schools.
"In effect, schools have been getting a bonus for the last 10 years.
They were benefiting from an error.
"They got more staff than they were entitled to because they optimised the use of casual staffing and entitlement.
"Schools have made really good use of the entitlement to fund relief teachers so they could release staff for professional development and special programmes for children."
Despite the error, Mr Drummond said principals were grateful the minister was not going to save the money.
Rather, she would reinvest it back into school staffing in a way that all schools would benefit.
Ms Parata said the Government would work with representatives of the education sector to resolve the long-standing error.
"I am confident that the ministry, together with considerable expertise from the education sector, will find a fair solution that focuses on raising student achievement for all our learners.
"In the meantime, schools can be assured that entitlements for 2012 will not change."
Otago Primary Principals' Association president Brent Caldwell said the flexibility afforded by the previous system was useful for managing roll growth.
All principals and their boards were now keen to see how the situation would impact on staffing for 2013, he said.
