17,00 qualified teachers in New Zealand will receive a pay rise, following on from the government's Budget 2020 announcement on 11 May 2020.
The new budget announcement provides a $151.1 (£74.5) million fund package over four years for those working in learning services.
The minimum salary for teachers working in early childhood education centres is currently $45,491 (£22,432) to $46,832 (£23,094), depending on the qualifications held by the teacher. On 1 July 2020, the minimum salary will increase to $49,862 (£24,588), aligning them with kindergarten teachers’ wages.
Chris Hipkins, member of the New Zealand Parliament, said. “As we respond to the impact of Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic to our society and economy, the government remains committed to fair pay for lower-paid employees, especially the staff who have helped get the country moving again.
“This funding boost goes some way towards levelling the playing field for early childhood education (ECE) centres looking to employ qualified teachers but I do acknowledge that fully closing the gap between education and care services and kindergartens will be a challenge to be addressed over a number of budgets."
“Home-based early childhood education has been the fastest growing part of the early learning sector. In the future at least 80% of the home-based educator workforce will hold a required qualification, to ensure better and more consistent quality."
“High quality early learning is a right of every child and their parents and wh?nau, to give them the best possible start in life. That’s why this budget also provides $7.8 (£3.8) million for the Ministry of Education’s Early Childhood Education Provider Assessment Group to continue its work to ensure that early childhood education services meet quality and safety standards."
