School shut-down?

Press, 16 April 1980, Page 6

School shut-down?

The Minister of Education (Mr Wellington) .is considering closing all schools for one day in the present financial year as a cost-saving measure. No public announcement has been made by the Minister on the shutdown, although it is believed planning has been under way for about a month.

A spokesman for the Minister said yesterday that no final decision had been made and that the Minister was “exploring a number of political initiatives at this time.”

Mr Wellington held meet’ ings with regional superintendents of education and district senior inspectors in March. Representatives of primary and secondary school boards, the N.Z.E.1., and the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association were

also involved in the discussions. At the end of the meeting, instructions were apparently given for planning to begin for the national in-service day, which is estimated to save about $1 million. It is believed that final approval for the shutdown was given at a meeting convened by the district senior inspector for the Canterbury region in Christchurch last week.

Primary schoolteachers are entitled to spend 2.3 days a year in in-service training courses. Relieving teachers are employed while they attend the courses.

The Minister’s proposal is that schools will close on one day of their choosing to allow all teachers on the staff to attend inservice training. This will

avoid the need for relieving teachers to be employed. The savings on the 25,000 relieving teachers normally employed at $4O a day will achieve the $1 million target sought. Parents have not yet been advised of the plan. Some teachers believe it will be greeted with a strong protest “What the Government is doing is kicking the children out of school to save money,” one teacher said.

It is believed that the money saved will be available for “new. policy” spending in education. The one-day shirtdown could become an annual event, it is ■ thought. Teachers apparently fear that they might eventually be forced to do all in-ser-vice training out of school hours.