Tour seeks support for better funding in Northland schools

Joseph Tobin says the aim of taking this campervan around the country is to gain support for a campaign for better funding. Photo/Michael Cunningham

Education union members are hoping a tour around Northland will rally support for a campaign to increase funding, a teacher says.

Education unions NZEI and PPTA have been taking a bright yellow and blue campervan around the country on a campaign for better funding in schools.

The campervan stopped at three Whangarei schools on Friday after it was further north earlier in the week.

Joseph Tobin, union member and Hora Hora Primary School beginning teacher, said the tour was to raise awareness and collect signatures for a campaign to increase the school operations grant.

He said this was necessary to cover a 2 per cent pay rise for about 900 support staff, like teacher aides and administration staff, in Northland.

"We couldn't have the wide variety of kids we have, without support staff. They're highly skilled people and do an amazing job and it's necessary. Those kids wouldn't get the support we have without them."

The tour comes after a series of paid union meetings attended by support staff who said an increase in funding is needed to cover the requested 2 per cent pay rise.

This year $1.35 billion is being distributed to schools in operational grants, as well as an extra 1 per cent, $12.3 million, for those schools with students from long-term benefit dependent families, which works out to $92 extra funding for these students.

The Heartland campaign has been touring communities for nearly four weeks and hundreds of people every day are signing a national petition and hundreds of signed postcards are being sent to local MPs at Parliament from their electorate.

The van called at schools in Kaitaia, Ahipara, Pukepoto, Umawera, Mangamuka and Taipa last week, Dianna Bradshaw (NZEI) saying great feedback and support had been received.

Ms Bradshaw said school support staff, including admin workers and teacher aides, were bearing the brunt of the operations grant freeze and had in effect had pay cuts, meaning teachers had to do more admin work, which took them away from teaching.

''It will particularly hit those students with special needs," she said.

"I had one woman here in the Far North come to me to talk about her autistic child. The child's support worker has had their hours cut so she might have to take her child out of the school, because the school can't handle this child without the support staff."

The tour will end at Parliament in June.