Ministry of Education addresses teachers’ key concerns

<h2>The Ministry of Education has offered primary principals and teachers a 9&period;3 per cent wage increase to settle their collective agreements and is urging teachers and principals to say no to further industrial action&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Iona Holsted&comma; Secretary of Education&comma; released the following statement on Monday&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Ministry will continue to negotiate with NZEI to avoid disruption for children and their families and to reach a settlement&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Government and the Ministry have advanced work across a range of areas to address other aspects of the union’s claim and to improve conditions for teachers and principals&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Government removed National standards because teachers said it significantly contributed to their workload&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It provided over &dollar;20 million in Budget18 to increase teacher supply over four years including bringing New Zealand teachers home from overseas&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Budget18 also funded &dollar;270 million for children and young people who need extra learning support&period; Last week the Associate Education Minister Martin launched the Disability and Learning Support Action Plan for consultation and asked the sector to work with her on it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In addition&comma; the Ministry of Education is working with teachers and principals to reduce their workload&comma; improve teacher wellbeing and plan a medium to long-term workforce strategy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Government’s Maori language strategy Maihi Karauna lays out the Crown’s responsibilities to revitalise te reo M&amacr;ori by 2040&period; The Ministry is also refreshing Ka Hikitia&comma; the M&amacr;ori Education Strategy&comma; and Tau Mai Te Reo&comma; the M&amacr;ori Language in Education Strategy&comma; as part of the Education Work Programme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These are the areas where we are making substantive progress to positively impact primary teachers’ working conditions&comma; steps which complement the offers to settle the collective agreements worth &dollar;569 million that have been made by the Crown&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;