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Registration fee increase

 

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE: 21 May 2010

He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa!

Warm greetings to you all.

This year all of you will have received a series of communications from me about the Council’s intention to increase the fee for practising certificates.

After extensive consultation we can now confirm we will be increasing the fee from:

This is the first time the fee has increased since 2002 and is necessary to fully meet the costs of providing the Council’s improved and expanded services to teachers.

While fee increases are always unwelcome, the Council can no longer absorb these additional costs without compromising our ability to deliver the efficient registration experience that we offer teachers today.

We note from the consultation that many of you were concerned that the timing did not give you an opportunity to plan for the increased fee. We have listened to your concerns and, in case you were not aware, remind you that you can renew your practising certificate up to 6 months in advance of its renewal date. This means that if you are due to renew your practising certificate between 1 July 2010 and 31 December 2010 you may do so at the existing fee (i.e. $120 including GST) - provided that your application is received by the Council no later than 30 June 2010.  Every application is date stamped on the day we receive it. It is also important to note that applying in advance will not affect the timing of your next renewal.

Another common concern was that, as a Crown Entity, the Council was not sufficiently independent of Government. This is despite teachers paying the bulk of the cost of running the Council. The Council does need to reach out to the profession and reflect the aspirations teachers have for such a professional body. Therefore, it is timely to pause and review its current governance structure and functions.

In preliminary consultation and discussion with the sector in 2008, the response from key parties, particularly the teacher unions was to delay this work. However, the feedback from teachers is to now accelerate this work and the Council will bring this review forward.

A number questioned how the Council could demonstrate that it was providing an efficient and effective registration system. To test the Council’s efficiency and effectiveness, we have completed two time-and-motion studies – once in 2005 prior to the peak practising certificate renewal and again in 2007 after the introduction of the new database software TCR. This means we have precise expectations and measures for the timeliness and quality for processing applications and responding to teachers’ enquiries. Therefore, we can precisely define the capacity and capability required. Most importantly we can accurately project the costs of this process.

Many of you have been concerned at the size of the fee increase. The Council has resisted raising the registration fee until all of its statutory functions were fully embedded. This was to ensure we had trialled the new functions to more accurately project future costs and budgets to carry out these functions. For example, three Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC) panels were formed in 2008 to address in an accurate and timely manner the growing number of complaints and reports being received. Similarly, the Disciplinary Tribunal only considered its first case in November 2005. The Impairment Committee Rules were finalised by Parliamentary Counsel after detailed consultation with the education sector in 2008.

Finally, a number of teachers raised concern at the cost of the disciplinary processes. You will recollect that the Council had to consult extensively with teachers, unions, employers, professional leaders and other interested parties in setting the Competence and Conduct Rules for the Council. This involved benchmarking the rules against other related professional bodies both nationally and internationally. There was considerable care taken to ensure that they were set in accordance with the principles of natural justice. Teachers need to be assured that they will be treated fairly with each case being considered in its context and on its own merits.

I’d like to thank those of you who provided your feedback on the fee increase. On behalf of the Council I’d like to reiterate our commitment to contributing to the safe and high quality teaching environment that you, the teaching profession, offers New Zealand’s ākonga/learners.

 

Dr Peter Lind

Director

 

 

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