NZEI Te Riu Roa is bitterly disappointed at reports the government failed to fully fund pay parity for early childhood teachers in this year’s Budget in an effort to save money.
Documents released by the Treasury show that it warned the government not to fully fund parity in the Budget in May to stay within a spending envelope.
“We are disheartened,” the union’s national executive early childhood education representative Virginia Oakly said. “ECE teachers have been undervalued for decades – and it’s our children who ultimately miss out on quality early learning when the government doesn’t fulfil its promises.
“We are facing a critical shortage of teachers in ECE, not least because of low pay. It’s imperative the government fully fund pay parity in Budget 2023, as they promised they would before the last election.”
Ms Oakly said the early childhood education sector had been underfunded for years, and the decision was dispiriting for a workforce that is predominantly made up of women.
“It’s only fair that teachers with the same qualifications, skills and responsibilities get the same pay as teachers in kindergartens and schooling,” she said. “Most ECE teachers are women and are bearing the brunt of low pay in the sector.
“We all know that women have been historically underpaid in most professions – teachers are understandably angry it’s taking the government so long to do the right thing.”
She said the government also needed to stop looking at early childhood education as a cost.
“Research has shown that every dollar invested in quality early childhood education now avoids eight dollars’ worth of cost in the justice, social services and health sectors later in life,” she said.
“We think that’s an investment worth making in our tamariki.”