Kindergartens to protest

Press, 27 September 1982, Page 13

Kindergartens to protest

About 95 per cent of Christchurch kindergartens will not admit new children next month in protest against the Government's failure to improve staffing. The protest would affect all the two-teacher kindergartens with 40 children in their classes, the president of the Christchurch Free Kindergarten Association, Ms Jane Stanley, has said. Kindergarten teachers decided at their national conference last month to protest. A meeting last week between teacher representatives. employers, and the Minister of Education, Mr Wellington, failed to halt plans for a national protest. Mr Wellington has said the

protest would be regarded by the Government as industrial action and would be “treated accordingly.’’ Ms Stanley said it would benefit the children already attending kindergarten. “Their parents must understand that the children will benefit from being taught in smaller groups,” she said. For others it would mean a longer wait before starting kindergarten. A month would be added ,to the usual wait, which varied- among kindergartens. Kindergarten teachers have been pressing for lower teacher-child ratios since 1974. They are upset because the Government has refused to implement a staffing scheme that the teachers proposed in March.