• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Pay Hikes for School Support Staff Under New Collective Deal

Posted on: Friday, 4 November 2005, 15:00 CST

SCHOOL support and special education staff this week voted to accept new collective agreements.

New Zealand's 700 special education staff have been given pay rises of up to 18%. Support staff include psychologists, physiotherapists, special education advisors, speech and occupational therapists, and kaitakawaenga, who work with Maori students.

These groups will receive a maximum pay step of $67,800. Psychologists have a maximum of $74,500.

New Zealand Education Union President Colin Tarr said the agreement was a landmark for staff.

"These are major increases which recognise the value of the work special education field staff perform," he said.

School support staff voted to accept a 12-month collective employment agreement providing a 2.8% pay increase.

The 10,000 support staff, including school managers, teacher aides, librarians and IT technicians, are paid from a school's operations grant.

This means they compete for funds with school materials such as books and computers, and running costs.

Mr Tarr said support staff were still determined to address this bulk funding issue.

Source: Daily News; New Plymouth, New Zealand

More News in this Category