Dr Malini Yugendran
Auckland, 16 March 2023
On March 16, 2023, teachers in New Zealand stayed away from classrooms demanding better pay and work conditions.
It was a national strike including those teaching in kindergarten, primary, and secondary schools. Despite the government’s offer of $6000 pay rise over two years and $1300 one-off payment, primary teachers rejected the proposal, along with a request for 15 more hours per term of classroom release time.
Talks between the Ministry of Education and teachers’ unions had broken down, leading to the second strike in recent years.
Challenges in the Classroom
Tasnim Sharthar, a secondary school teacher, said that the issues facing teachers go beyond just being underpaid.
She said that the increasing number of students struggling with societal and mental health issues, a lack of sufficient guidance and support staff in some schools, and the weight of responsibility on teachers to juggle their work-life balance contribute to the additional stress.
She said, “The upcoming e-asTTle tests, an online assessment tool, in which we must mark 120-150 students’ written work, is just one example of the demanding workload. Teachers are also responsible for creating and implementing literacy and numeracy programmes for ESOL and special needs students. We are simply asking for enough support to juggle the constant pressure we face.”
Mythili Krishnan (name changed), a teacher with over three years of experience, said that teachers are advocating for smaller class sizes and more support for students who need extra help. According to her, teachers are striking for the benefit of children and are striving for a better system that supports them.
Saankhya Soundararajan, a public sector employee turned teacher said that the education gap in New Zealand is perpetuating cycles of poverty and inequality.
(Photo Supplied)
She said that students from low-income families are more likely to leave school without qualifications, have lower levels of literacy and numeracy, and are underrepresented in tertiary education.
“As a capitalistic society, however, we often prioritise short-term economic incentives over other important aspects of our collective well-being, including the education of future generations. Why else would teachers be so undervalued and underpaid?” she said.
Purushotham Madanagopal, a teacher with 20 years of experience, raised concerns about staffing issues in schools. He said that there is often a shortage of teachers, leading to a huge overload of work. “Teaching is not just another job, but a passion that extends beyond regular working hours. The workload and plethora of challenges in the classroom are causing an increasing number of teachers to leave the profession,” he said.
Inadequate Offer
Mr Madanagopal said that the government’s offer was inadequate and not in line with inflation. “Typically, pay increases are set for three years, with annual increases of 2-3%. However, this year’s offer was well below the intended rate, failing to keep pace with the escalating cost of living in New Zealand. The challenges are particularly daunting for new teachers in their first or second year, who are already burdened with education loans and receive very low pay. These teachers struggle to balance their expenses with their income. In simpler terms, if teachers have young children or need to pay for childcare, their salary mostly goes towards that expense. The pay for teachers is so low that some students who work part-time earn more than first-year teachers. It is ridiculous that teachers are paid so little compared to what they should be earning,” he said.
Ms Sharthar said, “We as teachers are worn out, and some are struggling to put food on their tables. This is just an additional layer on top of the difficult working environments and classroom conditions.”
According to Mr Madanagopal, the government had delayed addressing the issue of teacher pay, similar to what had happened during the previous round of negotiations in 2019.
He said that due to the government’s unsatisfactory offer, teachers had to resort to protesting through a strike.
The teachers say that they are striking not only for better pay and work conditions but also to highlight the importance of quality education.
Dr Malini Yugendran is an Indian Newslink Reporter based in Auckland.
