Changes in education

Press, 4 March 1987, Page 20

Changes in education

Sir, —With , the four-term school year under consideration, would the Minister of Education please explain why Form 3-4 pupils spend two weeks fewer at school than primary pupils, and Forms 5-7 pupils even fewer again? One would have felt that primary pupils would require a shorter year than secondary pupils who are older, physically and mentally more mature, closer to working a 40-hour week or undertaking demanding tertiary study. One wonders why secondary teachers, paid on average about $4OOO a year more than equally qualified primary teachers, work fewer hours, with generous non-contact entitlement. Having taught at both levels I know that secondary teaching is no more demanding than primary; and that the most demanding positions are in large sole-charge schools and as teacher principal in small primary schools. This is the time to unify the teaching service over any objections raised by the P.P.T.A. —Yours, etc., J. W. TAYLOR. February 1, 1987.

[The Minister of Education, Mr Marshall, replies: “The Education (Terms and Holidays) Regulations, 1984, require that every State school shall be open for a minimum number of half-days each year. For primary schools the number of half-days is 396 and for secondary schools it is 380. Although primary schools are required to be open for more days than secondary schools, thereby increasing the length of the year, I would point out that, generally, primary schools observe a five-hour school day while secondary schools observe a five and a half hour day. The effect of this is that the primary school year is shorter than the secondary school year in the total number of teaching hours.

Primary teachers’ salaries are negotiated in terms of the State Services Conditions of Employment Act of 1977. The writer should take up the concerns expressed with the New Zealand Educational Institute. In answer to the last of the points Mr Taylor raises, I support a unified teaching service. All interested parties were made aware of my stance when I called a conference specifically designed to address this question.”]