Thousands of teachers are striking across the motu on Thursday after a meeting between the Government and the union representing primary school teachers failed to reach an agreement.
About 30,000 primary school teachers and around 20,000 secondary school and kindergarten educators are striking, meaning up to 50,000 teachers will be taking industrial action in total.
Around 800,000 students from preschool to Year 13 will be impacted because of the strike.
These updates are now closed.
1:01pm - Education Minister Jan Tinetti has told crowds gathered at Parliament the Government is "committed to getting this sorted".
12:18pm - Large crowds have gathered outside Parliament.
12:15pm - Striking Cambridge teachers have gathered on each corner of the main street.
12:03pm - Teachers in Cromwell are striking in the rain.
11:55am - Thousands of teachers have also gathered in Christchurch.
11:49am - It's estimated around 9000 teachers and supporters have joined the march on Queen Street.
11:37am - Hundreds of teachers are marching in central Auckland.
11:06am - Several bus services have been disrupted by marches in Auckland.
11:01am - A large crowd of people has gathered to protest in Auckland's Mt Albert.
10:58am - Thousands of teachers have turned out to protest across the country.
One can be seen holding a sign saying, "No teachers, no future".
10:23am - ACT's education spokesperson Chris Baillie has blamed the strikes on "a rigid, centrally-planned wage structure".
"ACT would pay good teachers more with the Teachers Excellence Reward Fund," Baillie said.
"Good teachers deserve to be appropriately remunerated. That isn't happening at the moment because they are rewarded for years on the job rather than excellence. They also have to put up with an overstaffed Ministry of Education forcing a 'curriculum refresh' and other bureaucracy that gets in the way of teaching."
Baillie said if elected, ACT would establish a $250 million annual fund that will be allocated to schools, based on the number of teachers at that school.
"Principals will oversee the fund. They would have discretion to provide awards to teachers who have demonstrated excellence. There is no formula imposed by Government, this is not 'performance pay', it is an Excellence Reward Fund that a principal can use over and above normal salaries, just like any boss of a small to medium enterprise is in charge of remuneration.
"Principals, who are accountable to their Board of Trustees, will be able to provide awards to any teacher in their school, including managers and other members of the senior leadership team. This would be on top of the current teacher remuneration framework."
He said teachers play a key role in society and need to be shown the respect and appreciation they deserve.
"I was a teacher for 22 years. I watched as some teachers put in minimal effort but were paid the same as those who prepared well and went the extra mile.
"The fund would reward exceptional efforts and performance of teaching staff, extracurricular involvement and acknowledge high performance in middle management.
"Principals could also use it to attract hard-to-staff subjects. The future of our country depends on students turning up to class and doing well in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM). However, teachers with STEM qualifications are often harder to attract because they have higher earning potential elsewhere."
Baillie said the plan would see the average teacher, currently on $70,000 a year, get an extra $7000.
"Our tax cuts mean they keep an extra $2300, while our Reward Fund averages out to $5000 extra per teacher.
"With total discretion, a principal could reward a top performing teacher with an extra, say, $10,000. The effect of the policy would be to seriously change the range of people considering teaching.
"As education standards plummet and teachers walk out of classrooms this is the sort of real change New Zealand needs. ACT wants to reward the hard-working teachers that will be so influential in helping kids reach their full potential."
10:10am - The PPTA has a list of all the planned strike action for today. Click here for the full list.
10:08am - Education Minister Jan Tinetti told RNZ she believes the offer made to teachers was "reasonable".
Tinetti said she couldn't talk about the offer because the bargaining process was still underway but she added: "Everything is still on the table".
9:58am - One striking teacher has a sign which reads, "Hey Chris, don't force us to 'spread our legs', in reference to the Prime Minister's infamous gaffe during a COVID-19 stand-up during the Delta outbreak.
9:52am - Ex-MP Peter Dunne told AM he thinks teachers have the public onside for their strike. Dunne added teachers have been emboldened to strike by the Government
"I think they've been emboldened, if you like, by the way the Government came to the party in the end to settle the firefighters' dispute.
"And I noticed yesterday the Minister of Education was saying teachers aren't paid enough. So if I was one of the teachers' leaders, I would be saying to myself, 'We just hang in there now and eventually the Government will cave in," Dunne said.
Watch the full video below.
9:37am - Several protesters have gathered on the corner of Dominion Road and Mount Albert Road in Auckland.
