PPTA members vote to boycott Educanz nominations

PPTA members have given us the strongest indication yet that they want nothing to do with the undemocratic Educanz nominations and appointments process, PPTA president Angela Roberts says.

In a recent membership-wide ballot, 94.9 per cent of those who participated voted in favour of a motion to not accept nomination or appointment to the Educanz council nor participate in the body’s consultation processes.

“Effectively, the ballot result means that anyone who puts their name forward for nomination or accepts an appointment won’t be in a position to claim to speak for secondary teachers,” she said.

“Members of Educanz must understand that they will serve the minister and the government of the day ‒ not the teaching profession.”

Last year the PPTA’s annual conference voted to empower its executive to develop a range of responses to the Education Amendment Bill (no.2), which aims to replace the New Zealand Teachers Council with a government-appointed body.

These included giving PPTA’s executive the power to determine the extent to which the association would co-operate with the new body and putting proposals for actions against the new council to a teacher vote.

“The Educanz model as it stands allows the minister to hand-pick an exclusive club. By stripping away the professional voice of teachers and not allowing us to elect our own representatives to our own professional body, Educanz will struggle for credibility,” she said.