Teachers angry about service recommendations

Press, 18 December 1986, Page 8

Teachers angry about service recommendations

Teachers have reacted angrily to recommendations affecting their conditions of service, contained in the Parliamentary report on the quality of teaching. The report strongly criticised the amount of career protection given to teachers by maternity leave, priority rights for those who lose their jobs because of falling rolls, and rights of appeal for those not appointed to certain jobs. “Each of these provisions has individual worth, but the committee believes that their cumu-

lative effect often works against learners’ best interest,” the report said. “As the committee considers that learner interest is paramount, it believes systems must be less protective of teachers.

The president of the New Zealand Educational Institute, Ms Joan Paske, said the committee had taken “an inappropriate sledge-hammer to crack a very small nut.”

“What they have said is that there are a few teachers whose performance gives reason for con-

cern. We agree with that. But then they go ahead and propose to change a whole range of conditions of service to deal with what they admit is a very small problem.” Ms Paske said priority rights did occasionally mean that the best teacher for a particular job was not appointed. However, the system worked well in most cases. She was concerned about a recommendation to alter maternity leave provisions.

“Supposedly we are a country that is looking towards increasing family

involvement in the growth

of children. To change the maternity leave provisions I find astonishing.” The president of the Post-Primary Teachers’

Association, Mr Peter Allen, said the committee has not looked deeply enough into the issues.

Priority rights were in place to ensure there was smooth control of the problems caused by falling rolls, he said.

Without this procedure schools were subject to wild fluctuations in staff from year to year. That could only work to the

disadvantage of pupils.

Maternity-leave provisions were basic conditions of service which applied to all State servants, Mr Allen said.

“If anything, they support improved teacher performance by providing teachers with adequate

conditions of service, and ensuring that people who are good at their job are able to return.” The president of the Kindergarten Teachers’

Association, Ms Robyn Sigley, said that present maternity-leave provisions did not cause instability in the kindergarten service.

Both Ms Paske and Ms Sigley agreed with the committee’s desire for a more unified teaching service.

“That has been institute policy for 20 years,” Ms Paske said. “We have given New Zealand notice that it will be a major election issue as far as primary teachers are concerned.

“It is a criminal waste of the community’s finances to have a lesser amount of money paid for the earlier years,” she said.

Mr Allen said the

P.P.T.A. would be happy to discuss a unified service.

“We are in the business of ensuring that secondary. schools are properly staffed with appropriately trained and qualified people. If that is threatened by the notion of a unified teaching service we would be opposed to it.”

Mr Allen said the secondary sector had to attract people with tertiary qualifications. Therefore it had to maintain salaries that were competitive with those offered

by the private sector. All three presidents agreed with a call for increased community participation in schools. Ms Paske said, however, she would not like to see a great deal of community involvement in selecting teachers. "Evidence from Britain shows it causes problems, where local influence and

local knowledge are used

either to keep people out or to put people in. You get local prejudices applying to teaching appointments — prejudices that have nothing to do with the quality of teaching.”