The
Catholic Weekly
Online
Sydney
11 January 2004
Home
Archive
Subscribe
Links
Contact
HSC
pupils in top class
Trinity
students credit teachers
What
will they do now?
Catholic
all-rounder students in HSC 2003
Catholic
teachers’ pay rise welcomed
Vows
revisited 68 years on
Heroes
of the Vatican
Grow
grows too well
Staff,
residents believed in me
Sharing
our vulnerability
Pregnant
Pause
World
Youth Day
Graham
Andrews learns by teaching
Timor ‘sister’ parish
plan for St Canice’s
Symbols
of belief
A
conversation with ... Piers Paul Read, biographer of Sir Alec Guinness
Out
of Africa – with hope
Visit
to husband landed Anna in jail
Where
do teens see God?
Sparked
by ‘tongue of fire’
Parish honours ‘linchpin’ of
Vinnies conference
Maria finds family link in UK college
The day Br Nicholas dropped the pin
Catholic teachers’ pay rise welcomed
By Chris Lindsay
A pay rise of 5.5 per cent has been awarded to teachers in all Catholic schools in NSW.
About 12,800 teachers and principals in the NSW Catholic education system receive the interim increase in a decision by the state Industrial Relations Commission.
The Catholic Commission for Employment Relations has welcomed the increase, which is the same as that awarded recently to teachers at government schools in NSW.
The Catholic Commission told the Industrial Relations Commission that the pay rise would have to be paid for by an increase in school fees, saving of income from other areas and/or re-allocation of existing funding.
It will be helped as well by increased funding from the state and federal governments.
The NSW Independent Education Union had asked for an interim increase of 10 per cent on its claim for a total increase of 25 per cent over two years, but the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations, while agreeing that an increase was warranted, did not nominate a figure.
The increase covers teachers working in systemic Catholic schools in 11 dioceses in NSW and about 30 Catholic schools operated independently by religious orders.
A final decision on the wage claim will be made by the Industrial Relations
Commission in the first half of this year.
Michael McDonald, executive director of the Commission for Employment
Relations, said the interim pay rise decision was “welcome”.
“
We were supportive of an increase in our submission,” he said. “We
believe teachers are entitled to a wage rise.
“
They deserve fair and proper treatment.
“ We believe the teaching profession needs to be properly remunerated so as to attract and retain teachers and help the Church live out its mission.”
Mr McDonald said there had been significant changes to the work value of teachers since the last time it was assessed by the Industrial Relations Commission in 1991.
“ There has been the introduction of new technology, such as computers, which are used virtually all the way through the students’ education,” he said.
“ As well there are curriculum changes introduced by the NSW Board of Studies, such as vocational education and training programs, which all increase the workload for teachers.”
Mr McDonald said the increase in state and federal funding would be automatic because the cost of educating government school students had gone up, and funding to non-government schools was based on this figure.
“ We expect the government increases will fund a significant part of the wage increase,” he said.
“ But it may take some time to flow through.”
Most parents, he said, had already been told of school fee increases because school systems budgeted ahead and would have prepared for a teachers’ pay rise.
“ If there is any shortfall then the school authorities will look at their priorities, but there have been no discussions so far as to what that would mean,” he said.