Editor
Another day, and another Novo-no-pay story flashes for the past three months, Ministry staff, including the Secretary across the nation’s television screens! The volume and diversity for Education, have been in denial, despite the daily reports of of problems that have emerged from the new education sector escalating issues with Novopay. payroll system is quite unbelievable. It is now over three Further, Ministry staff have been passing the system failure months since Novopay was launched. During that time the onto schools by suggesting that more training was needed. NZEI most extraordinary stories have emerged. Most involve relief has called for a full public inquiry and this call will surely have teachers, part time teachers, teacher aides, teachers applying for the full support not only of the education sector, but of the public sick leave or annual leave. But some involve full time teachers who have unwittingly funded this shambolic system. too. Many still unresolved problems involve payments to third The Novopay debacle has been widely publicised, but it is not parties such as superannuation, the only issue that has exposed an medical insurance, student The Novopay debacle has been area of Ministry incompetence loans and the like. The latest, and inconsistency this year. as this issue goes to print, are widely publicised, but it is not Let’s go back to the class size revelations of security breaches the only issue that has exposed issue. Information passed to around teachers’ pay details. the Minister on the impact of The system is two years an area of Ministry incompetence increasing class sizes was also overdue and comes with a $29 inaccurate, especially for inter million price tag. The contractor and inconsistency this year. mediate schools, and it took the is an Australia-based company, Talent2. profession to point this out. Increasing class sizes was to release So bizarre has the experience been we have read stories from money for increasing the quality of teachers through teachers teachers being paid tens of thousands of dollars for a few hours having higher qualifications. The Minister claimed that quality relieving to the unbelievable case of the reliever who was owed teaching is what makes the difference in lifting achievement. $7,000 but had been charged $24,000 in tax, leaving her with Fast forward to a few weeks ago and the introduction of the negative $17,000. There were teachers appearing on school staffing ‘Amendment to the Education Act’. This amendment allows for usage and expenditure (SUE) reports who had never worked for the establishment of Charter Schools which are supposedly to lift the school. Just a few weeks ago a Fiordland teacher aide appeared achievement for our most vulnerable and challenging learners. on television to tell us she hadn’t been paid since August. These schools will not require teachers to be registered or Every newspaper, radio station and television channel has a qualified, and that includes principals. Further, the schools will dossier of Novopay stories. NZPF ran its own Novopay survey not be obliged to respond to Official Information Act requests. and sent it out twice, three weeks apart. Across the two surveys It is all quite extraordinary and bewildering. the results were almost identical. In the latest survey Principals Let us not also forget the debacle called the Christchurch reported that in 75% of schools the staff were still not all paid Renewal Plan. Ministry information once again is just so wrong. correctly, 90% of schools had problems relating to previous pay How can someone mistake a long-jump pit for liquefaction in rounds not yet resolved, half of the schools had had to resort to such an important report? How can you mistake five buildings paying staff out of their own school funds at some stage, and 86% for fifty? of schools had no confidence that problems would be resolved Together, all of these issues add up to a certain attitude of before the end of the year. arrogance. The Ministry is disrespecting the sector, ignoring The staff in schools responsible for payroll report that they the professionals and so often getting things horribly wrong as have reached their wits end. The frustration of the call centre a result. There is a need for an urgent culture change. wait times which have exceeded fifty minutes for many, have Teachers right now are preparing end of year reports. If led to unbearable stress levels. Payroll staff have had to work the ‘Ministry’ was on the class list they might well say ‘overall considerable extra hours trying to sort out problems so that the performance this year below standard; needs to understand rest of the staff could get paid. The situation is intolerable. what responsibility means and when things go wrong, admit the What has made it more exasperating is listening to Ministry failure; needs to practice and improve listening skills; consistency staff report that the Novopay system is fundamentally sound and needs work; relationships with others poor; consultation skills that the problems really are minor. well below expectations; Can do much better, and we expect big Rejecting reality creates a block to progressing solutions and improvements from the ‘Ministry’ next year!