Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche said the offer was strong, fair and addressed calls to strengthen professional learning and development for principals and improve educational achievement for learners.
“The offer made to primary principals was a very good one and they had an opportunity to settle before the end of year,” Sir Brian says.
“NZEI’s assertion that the offer was inferior is disappointing, especially given that primary principals were being offered a professional learning and development fund of $10,000 and an increase in the Literacy and Numeracy salary component of $3,000 to $11,000 per annum from January 2026 for the term agreement to June 2028. This is in recognition of the significant work of principals leading curriculum implementation.”
“The offer included the same pay increase recently accepted by secondary principals of 4.7% within 12 months and is broadly comparable with the overall package accepted by secondary principals only this week – albeit the roles of principals in primary and secondary education differ.”
“As I have said from the start, this round of collective bargaining was never going to be easy, and this outcome suggests that this continues to be the case for some of the education workforce. This is completely avoidable given the offer we had made,” Sir Brian said.
“However, I’m buoyed by the latest settlements we have made with the secondary principals and secondary teachers who will now benefit from extra pay and improved support from early next year,”
“I am committed to good faith negotiations resuming in the new year to settle the collective agreement,” Sir Brian concluded.
