Just as it is normal for new employees with higher relevant qualifications to start on a higher pay scale, it is normal for companies to encourage existing staff to upskill in role-relevant skills. Some offer a bonus on completion, some even subsidise studies. However, the important and key point is that this is only done for skills that help to provide a better business outcome — that is, relevant skills. Sadly, some members of the media seem to have purposely tried to misunderstand this concept and are trying to create a race relations issue out of thin air. The NZ public objected to government departments having a blanket rule to pay a bonus for gaining language proficiency in a language most of them do not require for their role. It is — yet again — poor use of public funds and poor management. By all means, provide incentives to upskill staff, but please ensure this only happens when it relates to skills relevant to the role and thus improves the outcomes.
Lucas Bonne, Unsworth Heights.
Luxon should persevere
The use of te reo Māori appears to have caused strong responses when it was discovered the PM used public funding to learn te reo (NZ Herald, December 19). This points more to Christopher Luxon’s status as a rookie politician rather than a display of hypocrisy, as he’s discovering every utterance, every action, can create painful but survivable minefields to avoid. Reversing many of the previous government’s more “liberal” policies satisfies NZ First and Act’s constituencies, but does little for the irritation the Prime Minister must feel rubbing up against the rock and the hard place of his coalition partners. It’s obvious they treat the everyday use of the Māori language with antipathy and suspicion, and it’s to be hoped Luxon perseveres with his te reo lessons. Its status as an official NZ language needs to be preserved, and a bonus is that learning te reo also helps one to further understand Māori culture. That can only serve to enhance and support race relations in Aotearoa.
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.