Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)
Members from around the motu did PPTA proud with their oral submissions on proposed legislation to expand the Teaching Council’s fee-setting powers.
An unexpected highlight of lockdown was watching more than 90 PPTA Te Wehengarua members make powerful and dignified submissions on the Training and Education (Teaching Council Fees and Costs) Amendment Bill.
On August 9 the Minister of Education, Hon Chris Hipkins, introduced the Training and Education (Teaching Council Fees and Costs) Amendment Bill to parliament. This bill would see the Teaching Council’s powers to set fees greatly expanded, and was met with great concern by PPTA Te Wehengarua members.
So little time, so many submissions
Minister Hipkins also announced that the bill would be moving through the select committee process in an unusually short timeframe. PPTA members were left with only 13 days to get their written submissions into the select committee, making it very hard for branches and regions to get together to make group submissions. Eight days into the process, Level 4 lockdown was announced, but the select committee process went ahead. Undeterred, more than 1000 people made submissions to the select committee, and more than 90 PPTA members made oral submissions via Zoom.
PPTA members from all around the country, of all ages and levels of experience, gave their submissions in English or te reo Māori, with power and dignity. They stood tall for themselves, for the union, and for the profession. We thank all members who made written and oral submissions to the select committee.
Submission highlights
Here are some highlights:Sam Dockery from Mt Albert Grammar School commented that the Teaching Council was charging teachers for “two functions that seem vastly overpriced and one that we don’t want at all”.
Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Junior Vice President, from James Hargest College, said “I really support having a bouncer on the door – that’s the key role of the Teaching Council – to control who enters and to help people out who shouldn’t be there.”
Nicholas Eddy, a mature new entry teacher from Hastings Boys High School, said there seemed to be a lack of good faith in rushing legislation through. “Due process needs to be followed and it needs to be open and transparent between all parties. It is good that the voices of teachers are being heard.”
Natalie Jump, from Wellington Girls College, commented that teachers are not a blank cheque for the Teaching Council. The council had downplayed the fee hike by only referring to it as an annual fee of $157 – this is deliberately misleading. “If this bill is passed it means that we are to trust the Teaching Council will act in good faith, it will reign in the purse strings and it will not double its fees. However, we do not trust the council. We need time to consult. We propose the Minister of Education provide the interim funding for this to happen.”
Shannon-Mae Read, a sixth-year teacher at Upper Hutt College, said the bill proposes to allow the Teaching Council to set fees as it sees fit without sufficient consultation, perpetuating the imbalance of power between the profession and the council. “More importantly, it disproportionately affects our beginning, part-time and relief teachers.”
Conor Dykes, a third-year teacher at Tauranga Boys High School, said the Teaching Council was operating outside of its means and providing services that teachers didn’t ask for and didn’t want. “If it is this urgent, let the government fund the costs. This bill does nothing to encourage people into teaching, in fact, it actively pushes people away.”
Susan Haugh, PPTA’s Advisory Officer campaign coordination, said the urgency of the process meant there could not be a considered, consultative conversation about the bill. “There could have been some government funding to prop this up while we did this process thoroughly. We’re taking a lot on trust – we don’t need to be doing that. The situation is not so urgent that we need to put in a broad, vague, cover-all clause in the hopes that the Teaching Council will do the right thing with that. Our members feel like they have been burnt by that before.”
