Not sure how many other parents there are here, but this has been ongoing for some months now with no end in sight. I actually wish there was more media coverage to raise awareness of the plight of our teachers.
Yes, it’s frustrating to have our kids home while we’re trying to work etc, and I worry about impact on their schooling (especially when ‘normality’ was starting to return post-COVID lockdowns) but I feel strongly that these teachers are absolutely getting the short end of the stick in the pay negotiations. Keep supporting them where you can, talk to your kids about the whys of what’s going on and cross everything for a positive resolution soon!
My 2c anyway :-)
It is frustrating, and I feel for the kids and their parents. However, I’m hearing a lot of mutterings that the teachers don’t care about the kids and need to stop their strike action. I strongly believe they have no other choice, and all our frustration and anger should be directed at the Ministry.
Schooling is one of the most important things for the betterment of society. Our teachers should be adequately compensated, and not have an unmanageable workload.
It’s really just this and MoE are just doubling down on the opposite for some reason.
All this negotiation is essentially teachers asking for better support (i.e. smaller classes, more teacher aides, more teachers) and cost-of-living adjustments.
The ministry seem to be sitting there yelling “fuck you” back at them.
It really is insane how badly NZ pays their teachers (and nurses, and other essential workers). NZ is haemorrhaging critical talent to Australia and other countries because the government simply doesn’t care about the low wage, high cost of living economy that every regular Kiwi now has to live with.
Frustrating and sad.