The government has made ‘alarmingly' little provision for salary increases for the education sector in last week's Budget 2015 announcement.

That's the word from the New Zealand Educational Institute following the announcement Thursday.

NZEI National Secretary Paul Goulter says teachers will be going into bargaining later this year and will be expecting a necessary and fair pay rise.

“The government has been talking for some time about the need for quality teaching,” Goulter says. “Therefore it needs to ensure it can deliver on its side of the bargain and ensure teaching is fairly paid and that good teachers are attracted to and encouraged to remain in the classroom.

He explains, “While no one enters the teaching profession expecting to get rich, research consistently shows that in good education systems, teachers are fairly paid.

“We are concerned that the Finance Minister is trying to dampen any expectations of public sector pay rises,” Goulter says. “However if the government is going to claim it can manage the economy well, then it's time to ensure that key sectors such as education are given a fair pay rise."