Poaching New Zealand Early Childhood Teachers, By Bruce Bennett
Incredible as it seems, the Australian government is poaching early childhood teachers from New Zealand, with a salary package of up to $ 150, 000, and remote location top ups of up to $500 a week, relocation incentives up to $50,000, and benefits including free furnished accommodation, electricity, and flights. It is enough to make me want to go back to New Zealand, just to be poached!
I have one question; why has the government not gone all out to train locals for these positions? Surely locals would come much cheaper, without a salary which is over half that which a Federal MP receives, or a university professor? There is something not right with this scenario. Has globalism led to the Federal government losing what little mind it had left?
"As David Seymour undertakes what some teachers fear is a "wrecking ball" review of Aotearoa's early childhood sector, New Zealand early childhood teachers are being lured to Australia for lucrative annual salary packages of up to $150k.
Packages can include remote location top ups of up to A$500 a week, relocation incentives up to A$50,000, and benefits including free furnished accommodation, electricity and flights.
One Kiwi ECE teacher who left NZ for a better paying and less stressful position in Perth has started a support group for other Kiwis looking for a better life across the ditch.
Chloe Goodman has been an early childhood teacher in Perth for almost three years, and has doubled her pay with fewer responsibilities.
"When I left New Zealand three years ago I was a lead teacher in a 4-5-year-old room on NZ$25.70 ph and I am about to start a new job next week, not lead, and I will be on A$46.34 (NZ$51)."
Goodman says many Kiwis want to make a similar move and her online support group is receiving more inquiries.
"When I was trying to connect with other NZ teachers on Facebook I couldn't find any groups so I ended up making my own group which now has around 600 members and growing every day. So you're not wrong, there are plenty of NZ teachers making the move over or even just looking into it."
There are multiple opportunities in Australia she says.
"It was pretty easy to get my qualification and registration switched over under the mutual recognition agreement and it's been very easy to find teaching jobs."
An Auckland based recruitment agency told Stuff there was "a marked increase" in Kiwi teachers eyeing up higher pay in Australia.
Teachers leaving for higher pay overseas is already creating a teacher shortage in the sector here, and David Seymour's comments about his current regulatory review "make it clear that pay parity will be under threat" for historically low paid early childhood teachers in Aotearoa, the New Zealand teachers union says.
In contrast, the Australian government has just made a multi-billion dollar provision towards wage increases for early childhood educators in the recent Federal budget, with a 25% pay adjustment on the table."
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