Kindergarten teachers agree to new settlement

Kindergarten teachers have voted in favour of a new agreement that will improve their working conditions.

The decision follows four months of negotiations between the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI), a union which represents about 1700 teachers.

Teachers attended 44 meetings around the country over the past two weeks, with 95 per cent of them voting in favour of the new employment settlement.

NZEI negotiations team leader Judith Nowotarski said the new settlement offered more flexibility to communities while meeting the teachers' requirement to maintain a quality level of education at a time when operating hours were changing.

Changes included the introduction of the 20 free hours for three and four-year-olds.

The settlement specifies maximum hours of work and contact time with children and protects breaks for professional learning and planning.

It also strengthens the right of kindergarten teachers to be involved in discussions about re-organisations of kindergartens.

Ms Nowotarski said teachers had urged the union to continue addressing the issue of the number of contact hours for part-time teachers and for teachers working in all day kindergartens.

Kindergarten teachers took strike action more than 18-months ago over proposed new working conditions because of concern that quality teaching and learning in kindergartens would be undermined.

- NZPA