The government is mandating a Covid-19 vaccination for people working in the education sector, and already a small number have said 'thanks but no thanks.'
New Zealand Principals' Federation president Perry Rush says three staff promptly handed in their notice in the wake of the ultimatum to be fully vaccinated by New Year's Day.
He told Morning Report it was a 'confronting time' for some in the sector.
"There are a number of principals that have expressed serious concern, and it looks like there will be some principals in that position. There really are no alternatives for those principals."
The Federation is supporting the mandate though, but Rush does still want a little more information on how dealing with unvaccinated staff will work.
"We are working with young people and young people in primary schools, five to 11, are not vaccinated, certainly not at this point. It's really critical that we ensure that those young people are safe and that teachers and that education workers are safe, so we're supportive of this mandate.
"Our challenge is really around the information void, about the implications of this decision. It just became clear yesterday that an invitation was made to peak body leaders from the Ministry department with the ministry, to work up the detail around the implementation of this policy, and I think that while it's good to see that engagement, it's really surprising that detail, that implementation was not discussed and launched at the same time that the government announced the policy."
Rush said people are dealing with possibly losing their employment, but he had heard hints the way the mandate would work would not be as binary as "no jab, no job".
"We're confronted with the reality of principals and teachers thinking, 'I can't pay my mortgage, I don't have a job, I can't feed my kids'.
"You know, this is really serious stuff, and we really do as a country, I think, need to maintain our humanity and our dignity and these sorts of conversations. Clear information is needed, and we need it now."
