The Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, visiting students at Silverstream Primary School. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The head of New Zealand's largest teaching union says she is flabbergasted by a plan to switch funding for resource teachers to a "more efficient" teaching support service.
The Ministry of Education has asked all schools for feedback on the plan before 21 March, which seeked to ensure support services were "equitably distributed" across the education system - but NZEI Te Riu Roa president Ripeka Lessels said that does not make sense as most resource teachers of Māori teach in Māori-immersion schools, and not all schools are eligible for literacy teachers.
"These people are pivotal to - and they work predominantly with children who are a challenge, who are struggling," Lessels said.
"Why would you even consider wanting to do this?
"This proposal sounds really ludicrous to me and it just is unfair.
Lessels said the proposal would see 174 full-time roles defunded and disestablished.
"The letters that we have received clearly indicate that this is about cutting FTTEs (full-time teacher equivalents)."
While the Minister of Education Erica Stanford said difficult decisions would need to be made, she said the government was not looking to defund expert teachers who support literacy or te reo Māori, despite concern from NZEI Te Riu Roa.
"The RTLits (resource teachers of literacy) themselves have for a long time - and frankly I think they've been ignored - said, 'Look, we're not being used efficiently, we're driving for long periods of time between schools', and I think that's fallen on deaf ears," Stanford said.
"But we have listened - they are an excellent resource - and we can use them in a much better way."
It was about using the same resources in a different way, Stanford added.
"That's what we're having to do as a government - is look at what is the best possible service we can provide for our children in a classroom."
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