Seventy-nine percent average pay increase for kaiārahi i te reo in proposed pay equity settlement

Kaiārahi i te reo employed in Aotearoa schools and kura have been offered a life-changing pay equity settlement, that goes a way to acknowledge the mana that kaiārahi bring to te reo rangatira and our education system. This includes average pay increases of 79 percent, following a pay equity process initiated by NZEI Te Riu Roa with the Ministry of Education in 2018.

This is the first proposed pay equity settlement for a Māori workforce in New Zealand history.

Kaiārahi i te reo use their in-depth knowledge of te reo and tikanga Māori to support their school communities.

Should the offer be endorsed by those covered in the claim, a kaiārahi i te reo currently earning $23.03 per hour would be paid $41.31 per hour. Proposed pay increases range from 77 to 83 percent.

The offer also includes commitment to improving professional learning and development, a new parental allowance, an overtime allowance, better rules for progression and an updated work matrix to determine grading.

A comprehensive 18-month investigation conducted by NZEI Te Riu Roa and the Ministry of Education confirmed that the value of kaiārahi i te reo skills, responsibilities and experience has been significantly undervalued because they are predominately wāhine Māori.

“Kaiārahi i te reo are crucial to the revival and preservation of te reo and tikanga Māori.

Their mahi contributes hugely to creating the inclusive spaces we want our tamariki to learn and live in. It feels fitting to be announcing this momentous achievement for wāhine Māori in the week of Matariki,” says NZEI Te Riu Roa president Liam Rutherford.

“He uara nui tō te Kaiārahi i te Reo ki roto i ngā kura huri noa i te motu. Kua tae te wā kia utu tika ai tēnei hunga, kua roa nei e hāpai ana i ngā kaupapa Māori mo te oranga tonutanga o te reo Māori me ōna tikanga. He mea nui tēnei kirimana kia mātou, kia whai mana ai a mātou mahi ahakoa ki hea mātou noho ai,” e ai ki a Lenora Roberts (Te Aitanga-ā-Hauiti, Ngāti Porou) He māngai Kaiārahi i te reo mō te roopu NZEI Te Riu Roa.

NZEI Te Riu Roa will be discussing the proposed settlement with kaiārahi i te reo in the coming weeks. A vote will then take place to endorse or decline the offer.

The new rates would apply from 20 August 2021, the date NZEI Te Riu Roa and the Ministry of Education confirmed the evidence of historical gender-based undervaluation.

This proposed settlement is a milestone among the various ongoing pay equity claims in the education sector. Last month a proposed settlement was reached for school administrators. Education support workers and teacher aide pay equity claims were settled in 2020.