Tauranga Boys' College principal Robert Mangan. Photo / Caroline Fleming
Tauranga Boys' College principal Robert Mangan. Photo / Caroline Fleming
With just days to go until the Government's 2019 Budget, promises have already been made. There's been an extra $58 million into the forestry sector, $2.2m of provincial growth fund money for youth and young adult initiatives in Kawerau, $200m allocated to housing long-term homeless people in New Zealand andmore. This Thursday the Government will announce just how much money they'll put into each sector and for what. Educators tell Caroline Fleming what they hope the budget will bring.
Tauranga educators have high hopes for this year's budget.
Tauranga Boys' College principal Robert Mangan said high on his wishlist was increased support for health and wellbeing services for students which would be in keeping with the theme of a "wellbeing budget".
Additional resources for mental health assistance for high need students was vital, he said.
He supported the campaign for increased pay for teachers and believed they were undervalued in New Zealand.
"Any dollar spent in the education sector was a dollar well spent."
Greerton Village School principal Anne Mackintosh said schools were "grossly underfunded" and desperately needed a school budget boost to stay above the water.
She said schools were currently 30 per cent underfunded, so a 40 per cent increase just to make the difference with a small boost would work wonders.
Mackintosh said funding was needed so every child could access support services and that children with high-needs had additional support.
Greerton Village School principal Anne Mackintosh. Photo / File
Principal at Inspired Kindergartens Peter Monteith said he believed this budget would not focus too heavily on the early childhood sector.
With the ten-year strategic plan not likely to be adopted until 2020, he said he could not see much coming out of the budget.
However, if he was to make a wishlist, he said he would hope for a higher rate of funding for two-year-olds and an inflation adjustment for funding this year.
Something highlighted in the strategic plan, and a big wish for the sector was for there to be funding for support services in kindergartens, including a public health nurse and counsellors, he said.
NZEI and PPTA teachers and principals will be striking for better pay and work conditions on Wednesday, the day before the budget is set to be announced.
Tauranga principal of Inspired Kindergartens Peter Monteith. Photo / File
