Another 230 teachers, support staff and early childhood educators from across the Waitaki district turned out at St Kevin’s College in Oamaru to express their concern about a Government proposal to fund primary and secondary schools with a lump sum or "bulk funding".
They were addressed by speakers representing the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) and PPTA, all of whom spoke out against bulk funding.
Alan Forsyth, standing in for an absent NZEI national secretary Paul Goulter, said
it was the most radical plan for the sector since Tomorrow’s Schools was introduced in 1989.
Judy Hinton, an adviser to the Otago Playcentre Association, said the early childhood education (ECE) sector was funded on a per-child, per-hour basis, which was a "mechanism for under-funding".
The Government had effectively frozen funding for the sector since 2009, Ms Hinton said.
That had meant a loss of job security for teachers and the increasing use of casual, unqualified staff.
The rest of the education sector would face the same issues if the proposal was allowed to proceed.
In Oamaru, PPTA executive member Jill Gray said the proposal was the start of the "casualisation" of teaching.
After the speeches, media and other members of the public were asked to leave the meetings so teaching staff could vote on what action to take against the proposal.
