New figures show almost 2000 schools are still facing problems with Novopay almost two years after the trouble-plagued payroll system was introduced.

Figures released to Labour under the Official Information Act show that more than 1250 of those schools have outstanding pay-related backlogs to be cleared.

“Novopay still has more than $9.3 million in debts to recover and ongoing errors are creating hundreds of thousands of dollars in new debt," says Chris Hipkins, Education spokesperson, Labour.

“Recent reports show the payroll system still contains 125 serious or very serious defects.

“Minister Steven Joyce took over responsibility for Novopay more than a year ago. At that time he said he wanted the workloads of school administrators to return to normal within three months.

“Steven Joyce deserves an F for fail for this assignment."

According to Hipkins, too many schools are still experiencing major problems which are taking up the time and energy of staff.

"Those efforts should be going into supporting our kids' education," he adds. “The Minister has clearly failed to read the hundreds of letters and emails that keep flowing in from teachers and school staff up and down the country who have received the wrong pay and are still battling to get their problems resolved.

“It is time for the Government to provide schools with funding to cover the costs of administering Novopay.

“Steven Joyce has his head buried firmly in the sand if he thinks Novopay is working well."