Longer term work

Learn about the longer term work between the Ministry of Education, New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) and NZEI Te Riu Roa, to address other issues affecting teacher aides.

Level of compliance Main audience Other

Inform

  • Principals and Tumuaki
  • Boards
  • Teacher aides

The teacher aide pay equity settlement includes commitment to longer term work.

The Ministry of Education, New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) and NZEI Te Riu Roa recognise that there are broader matters that need addressing to fix work issues affecting teacher aides.

These are being worked through under the education Accord that was signed by the Ministry of Education, NZEI Te Riu Roa, and PPTA Te Wehengarua in 2019.

The purpose of this Accord is to work together to resolve a range of issues, including looking at the roles para-professionals (such as teacher aides) may hold, their career pathways, and how these roles are funded.

What does the work focus on?

Reviewing the way schools are resourced for teacher aides

Currently, state and state-integrated schools receive the bulk of their resourcing in two ways – through staffing entitlement and operational grants. Schools use operational grants and specific funding for learning support, rather than staffing entitlements to fund teacher aides. This can mean that their role has to sometimes compete with other operational priorities.

Sector Reference Group

The Accord Governance Group has established a Sector Reference Group (SRG) as part of the review to:

  • help understand current issues in more depth
  • develop, test and refine policy options and possible improvements
  • develop and support wider sector engagement.

This work will support the development of recommendations for the Accord Governance Group and the Minister of Education. The SRG will ensure that there is meaningful engagement with the sector throughout the review.

Read more about the review in this update for the sector from Accord partners [PDF, 111 KB]

Download the A3 summary for an overview of the review [PDF, 225 KB]

Download the SRG’s Terms of Reference, which outlines the scope and objectives of the review [PDF, 158 KB]

Providing guidance on the use of fixed-term agreements to ensure they are being used appropriately

The majority of teacher aides appear to be on fixed term contracts. The use of fixed-term agreements for teacher aides needs to be appropriate, and both schools and teacher aides need to be aware of legal requirements.

What is planned?

Information around schools’ use of fixed term agreements will be collected by NZEI Te Riu Roa and the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA).

Based on this, guidance for schools on how to use fixed term agreements will be developed.

Establishing a working group to explore career pathways and professional development for teacher aides

Teacher aides have varying levels of opportunity to access qualifications or professional development.

What is planned?

A working group has been set up under the Accord to explore potential career pathways to keep teacher aides in the workforce, retaining their expertise and knowledge, and supporting their work through consistent and recognised induction and ongoing professional development.

When is the work happening?

Work on these areas of focus started in 2020. Many of these are complex issues and at this stage, it is anticipated that the work will take two to five years to complete, before sustainable solutions can be implemented.

Download the longer term work factsheet [PDF, 174 KB]

Further information about the settlement outcomes

Operational guidelines for schools [PDF, 1.7 MB]

Pay rate calculator

The new pay equity rates

Tiaki allowance

Variation of hours

Professional Learning and Development (PLD)

The Work Matrix

Longer term work

Information for teacher aides

Fact sheets

Quick steps to implementation [PDF, 190 KB] 

Pay equity and the teacher aide claim fact sheet [PDF, 400 KB]

New Work Matrix for teacher aides and pay equity rates fact sheet [PDF, 428 KB]

Tiaki allowance fact sheet [PDF, 307 KB]

Variation of hours fact sheet [PDF, 439 KB]

Professional Learning and Development (PLD) fact sheet [PDF, 364 KB]

Longer term work fact sheet  [PDF, 174 KB]

 

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