$20m spent on hired help in education

Education groups have spent more than $20 million on extra staff despite having hundreds of staff already on their payroll.

The Qualifications Authority spent almost $10.8 million on consultants and contractors in the past financial year while the Tertiary Education Commission spent $10.6 million, according to figures issued under the Official Information Act, The Dominion Post reported today.

National's education spokesman, Bill English told the paper that despite the extra help neither agency was doing a good job.

"It's outrageous. They've got hundreds of staff. The most important question is, what are those people doing? Both of those agencies have been in a mess in the last 12 months."

The reliance on contractors by the NZQA had been brought to light in briefing papers to Education Minister Steve Maharey last year.

It had 294 permanent staff, 28 employees on fixed terms and 97 contractors, but many contractors were in crucial roles, the report said.

- NZPA