Nikki Kaye invited back to school

Nikki Kaye invited back to school

1 May 2017

Educators are sending their best wishes to Nikki Kaye on her first day as Minister of Education, and inviting her to spend a day working alongside school support staff.

As schools launch into term two today, Members of Parliament are heading back to school to experience the work of teacher aides and other school support staff.

The Government's freeze on school funding last Budget has meant many schools do not have the funds to pay enough teacher aide hours to meet the learning support needs of their students.

Staff are keen to show MPs the value and importance of their work and make the case for increased funding to school operations grants.

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Lynda Stuart said school support staff would love the opportunity to show the minister the essential work they do to help children reach their potential.

“We appreciate Minister Kaye will be very busy in her first week in the job. However, many more MPs are going to be walking in the shoes of support staff throughout May, and support staff would welcome the opportunity to share the joys and frustrations of the job with her,” she said.

MPs will be presented with a petition calling for better funding for schools during their visits today in Northland, Warkworth, Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gore and Invercargill.

Almost 50,000 people around New Zealand have signed the petition over the past few months, and MPs will be asked to sign too and personally hand the petition to the Minister of Education.

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