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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 37, Number 9. 1st May 1974

Student Teachers Sick of Labour's Promises

Student Teachers Sick of Labour's Promises

On Monday kindergarten teacher trainees became the latest 'respectable' group to take direct action in protest against the Labour Government. Strongly supported by qualified kindergarten teachers, Teachers College students and many others, trainees from the Wellington Kindergarten Teachers College marched through Wellington streets to Parliament. Deputy Prime Minister Hugh Watt met them on the steps and agreed to give urgency to consideration of their demands.

Photo of protesters outside a church

But the government is negotiating only with the national Kindergarten Teachers Association, which does not have the confidence of student teachers. They say it never consults students to see what they want. Typically, no students are allowed to be involved in the present "urgent negotiations".

There were simultaneous marches in all other main centres and in all over 1,000 students took part. Placards in Wellington included messages such as: "Mr Amos keep your promises", "Is Amos on $25 a week". "How much are children worth?", and several variations on the theme that kindergarten teacher trainees are paid less than they would if they were on the unemployment benefit.

The kindergarten trainees want their salaries raised to the level of primary student teachers. At present they receive on average less than $25 per week. They find that with high fees and expenses they cannot get by on this amount. Many of them have to take part-time employment, and as a result their studies suffer.

A deputation from the Wellington Kindergarten Teachers' College Students' Association and the Student Teachers Association of NZ met Mr Amos last Friday to discuss their demands. They came away highly dissatisfied and resolved to make their grievances public by marching. "Mr Amos only repeated the vacuous words and hollow promises of 18 months ago," said one member of the deputation.

Amos told them there were other students in the country worse off than kindergarten trainees were. What he was in fact saying was that there are students whose welfare he cares even less for. He was referring to students in Technical Institutes who are the victims of another of his broken promises about tertiary bursaries. At the steps of Parliament a telegram pledging wholehearted support from the NZ Technical Institutes Students Associations was read out.

There is strong suspicion that labour is taking its time over this issue so as to be able to grant the wage rise next year, as a vote-buying election gimmick. This may be clever politics, but it is irresponsible social policy.

In the last 18 months Amos has put off other educational priorities by pointing to Labour's manifesto which says that the education of pre-school teachers will be radically expanded. He has said it was therefore his priority. But of the four hundred million dollars which will be spent on education this year, only l% will go to the pre-school area.

Amos has successfully fooled too many people for too long. The current action of the student teachers should help bring his incompetence and equivocation to the nation's notice.

Photo of two children with a police officer

Suffer the little children..........