Teachers' union disappointed by funding boost for schools

BY NATHAN BEAUMONT

Last updated 05:00 21/05/2010

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Budget 2010

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Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent on new schools, fixing leaky school buildings and to cover day-to-day costs.

An additional 500 places will be available under the Government's youth guarantee scheme and an extra 5000 places at university and polytechnics will be funded.

The Government will save about $400 million over the next four years by reducing the financial incentive to have more than 80 per cent of teachers registered.

The primary teachers' union, NZEI, said the Budget was a "nice-looking parcel with some nasty surprises wrapped inside".

Overall, the Government will increase education spending by $1.4billion over the next four years. The Budget included a $40 annual account fee on student loans for people who have stopped studying.

The Government has also back-tracked on a $50m school staffing cut signalled in last year's Budget.

Education Minister Anne Tolley told The Dominion Post the 4 per cent operations grant increase was satisfying. "Ever since I took this role on, schools have told me this is the area where they want more money. I am sure schools will be very pleased because this is a significant increase. The extra money will make a huge difference."

NZEI spokeswoman Judith Nowotarski said schools were hoping for more than the 4 per cent rise, but were realistic. "We were hoping for closer to 10 per cent, but we will take what we can get."

She was disappointed with cuts to teacher study grants and professional development and support. "Once you unwrap the Budget packaging the details are quite disappointing."

About $40m was allocated to get rid of unsightly buildings from vacant school sites. Mrs Tolley said: "It will also reduce antisocial behaviour and vandalism in these areas."

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce announced funding for an extra 1735 places at universities and 3173 at polytechnics. Students will have to pass 50 per cent of their fulltime courses over two years to keep borrowing money.

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