‘Priority’ teachers face unemployment

Press, 29 January 1982, Page 4

‘Priority’ teachers face unemployment

At least 20. Canterbury primary school teachers will not be able to return to work with their colleagues on Monday. Although the teachers involved all had jobs last year,; they are unemployed now because fewer jobs are available. The teachers have taught continually since they finished their training and therefore have, priority over other teachers for jobs. Unless they start work next week they will lose their records of continuous service. t

The president of the Christchurch branch of the Educational Institute, Mr A. G. Teale, said yesterday that the teachers' careers would be harmed and that they would no longer have priority for jobs. The Canterbury Education Board’s general manager, Mr D. Wilson, said that the Edu-

cation Department’s policy was to blame for the situation. The board would meet and discuss the problem Itj two weeks and would then “push hard” for the policy to he changed.

“We are concerned about this because we do not believe a teacher, through no fault of his or her own, lose the privileges that go with continuous service,” Mr Wilson said. The Education Department’s director of personnel, Mr J. H. Young, said from Wellington that the teachers would lose their continuousservice records unless the Minister of Education (Mr Wellington) intervened, Mr Wellington could change the policy. Officials of the department would meet Mr Wellington in three weeks to discuss the matter. Mr Teale said that the 20 teachers were only a fraction

of the total number of unemployed primary-school teachers in Canterbury. Not counted were teachers without ■■■ .continuous service; teachers returning from overseas, and' the former teachers wanting to resume work. Mr Wilson said that the board did not know how many other teachers were unemployed. It had concentrated on finding jobs for teachers with continuous service and since they had not all been placed the board had not dealt with teachers in any .other category.. The .Situation had arisen becaiis.e of falling school rolls, fewer teachers leaving work, and the board’s having to guarantee jobs for firstyear teachers. The problem would have been worse if the Government had not allowed schools with reduced rolls to retain extra teachers temporarily.