Southland secondary and area school teachers took to the streets of Invercargill yesterday for the third strike this year, as they seek a fair deal from the Ministry of Education.
Around 50 Southland members of the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) rallied at Wachner Place yesterday morning.
PPTA acting president Chris Abercrombie said it was really unfortunate teachers had to engage in their third strike this year, but necessary as they had not seen any significant movement in the ministry.
"There was an offer that was presented to us; it’s just not enough. It’s not meeting the needs of our membership. It’s not meeting the recruitment and retention goals that we have for education."
Teachers were feeling frustrated with the way they were being treated by the ministry, he said.
"This is just about fighting for public education ... At the moment, there’s no guarantee that a student would have a suitably qualified subject specialist teacher in front of them."
"We’re saying, please keep our salaries up with a CPI [cost price index]. It’s very sensible, it’s been done for other areas. Why are the government not offering this to secondary teachers? Particularly in face of the fact that there is a shortage of teachers."
Many principals were struggling to find staff, and were advertising positions that in many cases were getting no responses for long periods of time, he said.
"The feedback that we’re getting is that [teachers] are very angry, they want it settled. They know that what we’re asking for our claim is absolutely reasonable. And we have no understanding about what’s happening on the other side. Why would [the Ministry of Education] be doing this unless they’re bankrupt? And we know they’re not."
Teacher Rachel Shaw said being in front of the class was only half the job, many teachers spending large amounts of time on planning and marking extracurriculars, admin and pastoral care.
Teacher Urte Bierlin has been in the profession for three years, and said it was frustrating to see many teachers leaving the industry.
"If the money that they offer is not there, then no-one wants to do it ... If you don’t invest into the future of teachers, then the students, the kids and our future will suffer."
