NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • All Blacks
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Sarah Alexander: Pay all teachers the same or drop qualification requirements

By Sarah Alexander
NZ Herald·
13 Jan, 2020 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Surely, a qualified teacher is a teacher no matter what part of the sector they work in? Photo / 123rf

Surely, a qualified teacher is a teacher no matter what part of the sector they work in? Photo / 123rf

Opinion

COMMENT

Why would anyone mind low pay and hours of unpaid work when stepping into the shoes of an early childhood teacher?

People choose the career not for the money but because they love children and like the work.

READ MORE:
• Compulsory qualifications planned for home-based early childhood
education and childcare
• Fair pay campaign in early childhood education launched by NZEI Te Riu Roa in Rotorua
• Call for tough action after 26 early childhood education services broke rules repeatedly
• A new 10-year early learning strategic plan aims to shake up New Zealand's early-learning sector

Employers and the government count on the love early childhood teachers have of young children, and their kindness, to limit pressure on wages due to higher qualification requirements and professional status.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

However, nothing betrays that love faster than learning that others who hold an identical qualification and meet exactly the same professional requirements are getting paid more for doing the same job.

This is the situation in the early childhood sector. Those who work in kindergartens have pay parity with primary and secondary teachers. But, all other teachers in publicly-funded early childhood education (ECE) do not.

Start your day in the know

Get the latest headlines straight to your inbox.
Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.
By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

There are around 17,000 qualified primary and early childhood trained teachers in non-kindergarten ECE services. They are responsible for educating around 153,000 children during the most important years for shaping learning and future outcomes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

How did this situation come about?

From the late 1940s the government acted as the employer of teachers in Free Kindergartens.

Discover more

Opinion

Jarrod Gilbert: Why every biker should take this ride

07 Jan 04:00 PM
Opinion

Peter Davis: Loss-making DHBs need a serious re-set

08 Jan 04:00 PM
Opinion

Graeme Edgeler: Defamation law biggest threat to free speech

09 Jan 04:00 PM
Opinion

Education key to inspiring young, changing world

12 Jan 04:00 PM

Lower pay for kindergarten teachers compared with teachers who taught older children was justified by lower levels of staff training and the perceived degree of skill needed according to the age-group being taught.

Childcare services such as day nurseries and creches sat outside the education system and were regarded only as child-minding.

But in 1986 responsibility for the administration of childcare services was shifted out of the Department of Social Welfare and into the Department of Education. Childcare therefore became "education", as kindergarten was.

Three-year Teachers' College training for teaching in Free Kindergartens and childcare was introduced from 1988 which uplifted the status of childcare workers or nursery staff to that of being "teachers".

Trevor Mallard formed a ministerial working group in 2001 to plan the introduction of pay parity for kindergarten teachers with primary. This was achieved in 2002.

Pay parity for kindergarten teachers persists but teachers in all other publicly-funded ECE services are excluded simply because of a quirk in the sector's historical development.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

There is nothing distinguishing about "Free Kindergartens" any more. Kindergartens no longer have to provide a free education and can charge fees.

Kindergartens today are regarded by the Ministry of Education as non-state-owned centres and are therefore no different from any other community-based early childhood centres. Kindergartens must comply with exactly the same regulations and staffing requirements as all early childhood centres must do.

NZEI supports the quirk in the sector's development to remain. The union has no reason not to. While the majority of kindergarten teachers are NZEI members, the vast majority of teachers who work in other publicly-funded ECE are not (in part because low wages make membership dues unaffordable).

Despite making a lot of noise in the media about the low pay of ECE teachers, NZEI is not going for the achievement of pay parity on basis of a qualified teacher being a teacher no matter what part of the sector they work in. Instead, it is pursuing pay equity for qualified teachers who work in non-kindergarten ECE on the basis of gender and "fair" pay only.

However, the campaign for pay parity backed by ChildForum is not letting the matter rest.

At the end of last year, a petition started by an ECE teacher and signed by more than 15,000 people requested that Parliament urge the Ministry of Education to ensure pay parity with primary teachers for all ECE teachers working in any licensed publicly funded provider.

Dr Sarah Alexander. Photo / supplied
Dr Sarah Alexander. Photo / supplied

One concern expressed by government in the past is that any increase in funding to non-kindergarten services for pay parity might not be passed on.

But, services around the country are now following the lead of NZ's largest publicly funded provider, BestStart, to show they support pay parity.

BestStart has signed an agreement with ChildForum which will be provided to the Ministry of Education promising that it would pass on public funding for pay parity to its qualified teachers.

The time has come for the government to make a choice – either provide funding for the purpose of delivering pay parity, or drop qualification and professional requirements for those working in ECE.

The second choice would be the equivalent of removing new earthquake strengthening requirements from buildings after discovering how important such strengthening is.

We know the value of quality ECE for young children – and for society – and highly skilled and qualified teachers are central to the provision of that quality.

• Dr Sarah Alexander is chief executive of ChildForum, a national body and research organisation which encompasses all early childhood services.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
Opinion

David Seymour: I was invited to Oxford but learned a sad thing about NZ

20 Jun 09:00 PM
New Zealand

Three hospitalised after major house fire in Dunedin

20 Jun 06:39 PM
Premium
New Zealand

Watch: Forestry skidder tipped over cliff after logging company goes bust

20 Jun 06:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Premium
David Seymour: I was invited to Oxford but learned a sad thing about NZ

David Seymour: I was invited to Oxford but learned a sad thing about NZ

20 Jun 09:00 PM

OPINION: The debate ended with a 54-46 loss for Seymour’s team.

Three hospitalised after major house fire in Dunedin

Three hospitalised after major house fire in Dunedin

20 Jun 06:39 PM
Premium
Watch: Forestry skidder tipped over cliff after logging company goes bust

Watch: Forestry skidder tipped over cliff after logging company goes bust

20 Jun 06:00 PM
'Save a lot more lives': Stage 4 cancer survivor's plea for earlier screening

'Save a lot more lives': Stage 4 cancer survivor's plea for earlier screening

20 Jun 06:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search