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Teachers in early childhood centers could earn more money working in a supermarket, says a manager, as the problem of wage parity continues.
Average pre-tax pay for early childhood center teaching staff is $ 26.78 per hour, but some certified teachers earn close to the minimum wage, which is currently $ 18.90 per hour.
Salaries vary across the early education sector, and early childhood center staff pay, on average, $ 6.49 an hour less than their kindergarten counterparts.
Activists have long called for pay parity, and pay is cited as one of the main reasons for the shortage of early childhood teachers.
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According to the NZEI teachers union ECE (early childhood education) voice campaign, enrollment in early childhood teacher training has decreased by 55% since 2010.
A survey of early childhood teacher salaries from the ChildForum website last week found that one-fifth of early childhood teachers were considering leaving the sector due to low wages and working conditions.
STACY SQUIRES / Stuff
Children between the ages of two and five attend the Avonside Early Childhood Center in Christchurch.
Sue Downey is the manager and lead teacher at the Avonside Early Childhood Center in Christchurch, a non-profit service that has operated since the 1940s.
She said early childhood teachers have the same qualifications and do the same amount of training and professional development as elementary and kindergarten teachers, but are paid significantly less.
“We all follow the same rules, we have the same curriculum. Everything is the same apart from the salary, ”he said.
“There is no other difference that kindergartens are in the state sector and community centers are not.”
Avonside accommodates 30 children, ages two to five, and charges $ 2 an hour.
Downey said that sometimes it can be a “struggle.”
“The funding rate is different, so kindergartens get higher funding rates than ECE centers.
“Now it is very difficult to retain things. Why would you want to work in an early childhood center when you can make more money working in a supermarket? “
STACY SQUIRES / Stuff
Sue Downey, manager of the Avonside Early Childhood Center, says pay is a factor in teacher retention.
He said salaries at community centers like Avonside and Barnardos Early Learning Centers should be in line with those paid in kindergartens.
“Balancing the books every week is pretty tough when you’re just trying to get into the black.”
Aaron Caldwell, 40, graduated from the University of Canterbury last year and has a degree and a diploma in early childhood education.
He worked as a reliever at Avonside for about a year before assuming a permanent role in June.
He said there is a “big gap” between teachers and those in elementary or kindergarten.
He makes just over $ 24 an hour, but said the pay gap is smaller for newly qualified staff than for more experienced staff, as there is a higher salary cap for kindergarten and elementary teachers.
“I’m not in this to earn a lot of money, I knew it was not a sector in which you get involved to get rich, it is something you do when you are passionate about it.”
STACY SQUIRES / Stuff
Avonside Early Childhood Center, a non-profit center in Christchurch.
NZEI, Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand (ECNZ) and Barnardos are jointly calling on the government to remedy inequalities in teacher pay.
Education Ministry Undersecretary Andrea Schollmann said in this year’s budget that the government provided a funding boost of $ 151.1 million over four years “to improve the salary of up to 17,000 qualified teachers working in education services. and attention “.
“As part of this initiative, the minimum wage for qualified and certified teachers increased to $ 49,862 as of July 1, 2020. We hope this increased funding will help with teacher retention.”
He said the government does not directly own or control early learning services, so salary rates are ultimately negotiated between teachers and their employer.
“Because of this, there will be differences between employers and regions when it comes to teacher salaries.”
