Stop work for kindy teachers

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 23, 29 October 1985, Page 6

Stop work for kindy teachers

As part of the Kindergarten Teachers Association national stopwork on Wednesday, teachers from Waiouru and Ohakune met to discuss a government pay offer. However as government response to their claim was deferred for a second time, the teachers instead talked about the details of the claim. "The teachers feel very strongly that for too long the work that they do has been undervalued professionally and economically," said acting head teacher of Ohakune Kindergarten, Sue Kumeroa. The government has given early childhood education the highest priority in its education policy, and education minister, Russell Marshall, has stated that the work of kindergarten teachers was grossly undervalued. Mrs Kumeroa said that kindergarten teachers believed that they deserved more recognition in the community. They hope that better salaries will attract more people to kindergarten teaching — at present there is a nation-wide staff shortage of teachers and only one per cent are men. Ohakune Kindergarten has needed a ^head teacher since late last year, but no one has been attracted to the position. Last Wednesday was the first time kindergarten teachers had stopped work and they have had no major salary claims for 10 years.