More than 100 primary school teachers gathered at Levin East School on Wednesday afternoon to throw their weight behind the New Zealand Educational Institute's It's time/Kua tae te wa campaign, which demands government action on the growing crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers.
NZEI, New Zealand's largest education trade union, said fewer and fewer people choose teaching as a career path and many teachers are leaving the profession for other careers. Classes are getting bigger and the time teachers spend actually teaching is shrinking.
NZEI members are campaigning for a salary increase of 16 per cent over two years. They also want funding for special needs learning. The union's members agree that a major pay jolt is needed to both recruit and retain staff.
Liam Rutherford, leader of the union negotiating team, said more needs to be done to attract and retain teachers.
"It is a problem all over the country, but Horowhenua schools in particular find it hard to get relievers for teachers who are sick, for example. The number of job applicants is also very small here, making it hard to find the right fit between teacher and school. Our members voted overwhelmingly in favour of our claims we are taking to the negotiating table."
Members also said they would take their plight to the parents and the wider community.
Levin East School principal Rikki Sheterline said teachers have had enough. "There has been some progress over the years, but we need teaching to be recognised as a profession."
To him that means defining clear career paths for teachers, a significant pay jolt for all of them and allowing for more time in front of students rather than work on administration.
"The amount of time spend on administration is really an issue for our team."
Other problems include funding for special needs learning. He says support is very hard to get for those students with learning needs.
"That has a significant impact on the children themselves. Fixing this is very significant for us as teachers."
Sheterline said all teachers at the meeting are on board with the campaign. On June 22 another meeting will be held at Levin East School to report on progress.