Education row gets personal

Education Minister Anne Tolley. Photo / Supplied

Tensions between Minister of Education Anne Tolley and the secondary school teachers' union are becoming increasingly personal as the start date for national standards draws near.

PPTA president Kate Gainsford yesterday claimed Mrs Tolley was struggling to come to grips with her portfolio and talked "to" people rather than with them.

Mrs Tolley said constant personal attacks from Ms Gainsford were damaging Ms Gainsford's own credibility. She also said Ms Gainsford was passing information from talks about policies to the Labour Party and it was now difficult to trust her.

The primary school teachers' union also issued a press release, but restricted it to reiterating its call for a delay of the policy in question, rather than Mrs Tolley's competence.

The exchange followed Prime Minister John Key's decision to give Mrs Tolley's tertiary education portfolio to Steven Joyce, saying it would allow Mrs Tolley to focus on the national standards.

Ms Gainsford said shedding the tertiary portfolio would give Mrs Tolley more time to come to grips with her education portfolio.

"We know she's needed more time to grasp some of the issues - she has needed more time for a long time."

She hoped Mr Joyce would have "a more constructive approach" to the PPTA over cuts to adult and community education night classes.

The PPTA has long been at loggerheads with Mrs Tolley over national standards, with some schools threatening to boycott the implementation when school begins next month amid calls from many educationalists for a trial.

However, the increased acrimony is likely to inflame tension when the teachers' wage negotiations begin later this year.

Mrs Tolley rejected claims from Labour that Mr Key was putting her on notice by taking the portfolio from her or that she could not handle the work.

Labour education spokesman Trevor Mallard said it showed Mr Key was becoming nervous that national standards would fail and had put Mrs Tolley on notice that if she does not usher it in successfully, her hold on the front bench was at risk.

Despite union objections, boycott threats and calls for a trial period, Mrs Tolley said there had been extensive consultation and she was confident schools would successfully introduce them. She said there were major changes ahead in both portfolios and she and Mr Key had decided to split them because of the "massive workload".