Hon Bill English
National Party Education Spokesman

27 February 2006

Parents set to face teachers’ childcare costs

National’s Education spokesman, Bill English, says schools will have to collect new childcare costs for teachers from already hard-pressed parents.

“The PPTA is instructing schools to pay childcare costs for the days that teachers spend at school during holidays.

“Schools aren’t funded to pay their teachers’childcare costs. Nor are they funded for transport costs, which the PPTA says schools also ought to pay when a teacher goes to school during holiday periods.

“Schools have been caught by surprise by these new costs because their budgets are already under pressure, and parents can expect to see the bill come to them one way or another, either through higher fees or a bigger fundraising effort.

“About 200 schools are already on the watch list for financial pressure. These extra unexpected costs for staff transport and childcare will push more schools in that direction unless parents pick up the tab,” says Mr English.

ENDS

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