Computer stops pay

Press, 10 February 1989, Page 1

Computer stops pay

More than 500 teachers in the top half of the South Island did not receive their pay this week because of problems with the Education Department’s computer. About 350 primary school teachers who had notified the Canterbury Education Board had received a pay advance from the board, said the deputy general manager, Mr Garron Dowell. About 200 secondary teachers had been affected, according to the manager' of the Christchurch Secondary Schools’ Council, Mr Malcolm Richards. “When a person hasn’t been paid for 10 weeks it certainly is a ’•oblem for them,” he said.

Mr Dowell said the department had chosen the worst day of the year to switch to its new system because many teachers would have changed positions or gradings from last year. “We had advised the department to keep a parallel system operating, but they did not do that.” Board staff had worked on Waitangi Day because of the problem, and were now trying to identify more teachers who had not been paid. The information had to be in Wellington by Monday if it was to be corrected for the next pay, Mr Dowell said.