Source: Radio New Zealand
Relief teachers will get an increase to their transport allowances, as part of the government’s response to the fuel crisis.
It follows a similar move to increase mileage rates for home and community support workers, announced earlier this month.
Transport allowance mileage rates for relief teachers will be increased for 12 months, or until fuel prices ease below $3 a litre for 4 consecutive weeks.
The reimbursement rate for cars will increase from 37 cents per kilometre to 83 cents, and motorbike rates increase from 15 cents to 31 cents.
Rural schools with under 100 students will get a one-time cash grant of $2500 to help them pay for the expected increase to the reimbursement rates.
The conveyance allowance will be increased by 30 percent to help with the costs of getting children from eligible families to the nearest bus route.
“These measures are carefully targeted to where fuel costs are having the greatest impact,” education minister Erica Stanford said.
The government will also accelerate work to replace diesel boilers in schools.
It will put $37 million towards replacing boilers in 65 state schools and five state-integrated schools.
Stanford said it was expected to save around 600,000 litres of diesel a year.
She expected diesel boilers would be replaced in 20 schools by the end of the year. Bigger schools had “slightly trickier” infrastructure situations which would take until next year, while the largest schools would take until 2028.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
