The Ministry of Education is planning to cut costs, leading to a net loss of 565 jobs.
Combined with proposed cuts today announced at Oranga Tamariki, the children’s ministry, it takes the public sector cuts announced today to more than 1000.
In a statement, the Public Service Association (PSA), a union representing public servants, many of whom are in the firing line, said the Ministry of Education job cull represents 12 per cent of the ministry’s workforce.
The PSA, which is being consulted with over cuts at a number of ministries and agencies, has totalled up the proposed cull at the education ministry, saying 216 roles are proposed to be removed from its operations and integration group, 197 are set to go from the curriculum centre, 91 from regional offices, 39 from its property group and 22 from policy positions.
The union describes the regional jobs set to go as including people supporting children with disabilities, migrant and disabled children, and advisors on speech and language therapy.
It also states there is a proposal to dismiss eight nutrition experts, and at least six advisors, in relation to the free school lunches scheme, a recent topic of political contention.
Secretary of Education Iona Holsted has confirmed teams across the education ministry are in different points in the cost-cutting process.
“Te Pou Kaupapahere - Policy and our Property team in Te Pou Hanganga, Matihiko have recently finished their consultation processes and the feedback provided through those is under consideration,” Holsted said.
Proposals for other groups are yet to be released.
Holsted confirmed that of the 565 roles on the chopping block, 225 are currently vacant.
She acknowledged it was a “difficult and uncertain time” for staff and encouraged them to seek support, if needed.
“I do not underestimate how upsetting and unsettling these processes are. Not only for the people whose roles may be affected, but also for their colleagues, friends and whānau. More than ever, please look after yourselves and each other, and be kind and generous with one another,” Holstead told staff today.
PSA assistant secretary Fleur Fitzsimons calls the nature of the cuts “brutal and rushed”.
“Today is a black day for public service workers and the children and young people they support, with savage cuts that we believe will not deliver the better outcomes the Government promises,” she said.
Fitzsimons added there would be a “negative impact” on young people, families and communities, and suggested the proposal would make the work of teachers and social workers harder.
NZEI Te Riu Roa president Mark Potter believes the cuts will impact the daily running of schools and early childhood education services.
Potter described the move as “devastating” and is sounding the alarm over what the cuts will mean to the frontline, saying “these cuts will all impact ultimately on teaching and learning in the classroom”.
The New Zealand Post-Primary Teachers Association Te Wehengarua (PPTA) is also slamming the proposed cuts, suggesting they make no sense and could have “serious implications”.
PPTA president Chris Abercrombie suggests the cuts equate to the staffing of 10 average-sized secondary schools.
“The work will still need to be done and it will most likely mean school leaders and teachers will pick up the shortfall, creating further pressure on an already straining system,” Abercrombie said.
Minister of Education Erica Stanford says the Secretary of Education has been directed to ensure frontline workers or children will not be impacted by the change proposals. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The Ministry of Education has reached out to offer a briefing later this week on the details of the cuts.
In a statement to NZME, Stanford said: “I acknowledge this is a difficult time for staff at the Ministry of Education staff and their families. I’d encourage all staff to take part in the consultation process.
“The Secretary of Education has been directed to ensure that services that support the education frontline or children will not be impacted by the change proposals.”
The PSA’s Fitzsimons suggests the change proposal from the education ministry “covers the frontline”, something not in the scope of the Government’s cost-slashing directive.
Responding to concerns laid out by the PSA and other unions, Holsted said they were “disappointed in the PSA’s mischaracterisation of the ministry’s proposals as impacting services for children”.
“This generates unnecessary concern and worry for parents and caregivers and the wider education sector.
“To be clear, this is a complex process that has required time and our proposed changes have been designed to avoid impacts on direct services to children, teachers and principals/leaders.”
Stanford highlighted recent growth in the agency, saying in 2017 around 2600 people were employed at the ministry. As of 2024 it was more than 4300.
“To ensure we can deliver better outcomes [in] education, we will be redirecting funds that will be achieved from the Ministry of Education savings programme and put them to the frontline,” Stanford said in a statement to NZME, adding this direction was already signalled with its period products in schools programme announcement and by continuing to fund a school lunches programme.
‘Devastating for future generations’ - Hipkins
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said today’s proposed cuts at the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki “is devastating for future generations of New Zealanders.”
“After promising there would be no impact on the frontline, and that health and education would be safe, Nicola Willis is overseeing changes that will hurt our children and be felt for generations,” Hipkins claimed.
“This is a dark day for Kiwi kids. A third of the Government’s cuts directly affect our children.”
Hipkins claimed the size of the proposed cuts at the Ministry of Education “means frontline services will be affected.”
“These are people who work directly with teachers and principals to improve education delivery in our regions. They are frontline roles and those who support frontline roles.”
Willis, the Public Service and Finance Minister, has previously asked agencies to use “good judgment” in relation to the spending cuts.
The Herald has confirmed proposals to cut jobs at numerous agencies, which has been labelled “unsettling” by a number of leaders, across numerous agencies.
Agencies are looking to find savings between 6.5 and 7.5 per cent on average, as directed by the Government. The ministry’s target is the latter, larger number of 7.5 per cent, meaning deeper cuts will be required.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins claims the size of the proposed cuts "means frontline services will be affected.” Photo / Michael Craig
Willis has previously confirmed some agencies will not be able to meet the set targets.
Data from the Public Service Commission show that in the year to June 2023, the education ministry spent a total of $278.1 million on contractors and consultants, spending which has come under fire from the new Government.
In a prior statement, the ministry’s Hautū corporate leader Zoe Griffiths confirmed jobs would be impacted, saying: “there will be a reduction in our ministry workforce with change proposals being led out across the ministry”.
Griffiths added it would be premature to speculate on the number of positions and staff affected.
In October last year, a recruitment pause was put in force at the ministry, across a number of roles but excluding those that directly support children, teachers and principals, including learning support specialists, leadership advisors and curriculum advisors.
“Other critical appointments are being considered on a case-by-case basis,” Griffiths confirmed.
“The ministry is also reducing its spending on staff travel and meetings and on contractors and consultants.”
Today also saw significant cuts announced at Oranga Tamariki - the Ministry for Children - with a proposal to see a net 447 roles cut. In the change proposal to slash spending by 6.5 per cent, 632 roles would be disestablished in total, with 185 jobs created.
Earlier today, Oranga Tamariki chief executive Chappie Te Kani said in a statement to NZME that he’s aiming for Oranga Tamariki to be “a ministry that puts children at the centre of all we do”.
“Now we are proposing a new organisational structure as the next step in our transformation journey,” Te Kani said in a statement.
“I want to be clear. The change I am proposing is not about tinkering around the edges. This change goes to our core as a ministry. It fundamentally moves us away from where we are, towards the kind of Ministry we need to be.”
Hipkins said: “Oranga Tamariki works directly with kids who by no fault of their own haven’t had the best start in life. These are the very kids we should be investing in, supporting, so they can go on to live the best, most fulfilling lives and not lives of trauma and crime.
“Those who work at Oranga Tamariki have some of the toughest jobs of any agency within the public service. They deal with children who are abused, hurt or in danger.”
He said Oranga Tamariki “hasn’t always got it right”, however, cutting its budget and 447 staff “will only make outcomes worse.”
“If we fail the children in our care, we are creating a lifetime of pain for those children and for society,” Hipkins said.
Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, public service agency reform and transport.
This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.
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