A top union representative has welcomed the Government's plan to attract more teachers – but says it doesn't go far enough and needs to consider other ways of training.
The Government announced yesterday it would recruit and train 1500 new teachers over the next four years at a cost of $53 million, including 1200 School Onsite Training Programme (SOTP) places for aspiring teachers to train in the classroom and a $20,000 package per placement to make it easier for SOTP teachers to train.
The $20,000 package will provide a stipend toward trainees' living and training expenses and a tuition fees contribution. Schools will also receive a costs contribution for each trainee teacher they work with.
NZ Educational Institute (NZEI) president Mark Potter told Breakfast this morning: "We welcome this move.
"We've been saying for a long time, we aren't getting enough people going into teaching and we've got a diminishing number of people prepared to be teachers, so anything that will enhance that is a really helpful move."
He said the cost of training could be a barrier for prospective teachers.
The Government will be spending over $50 million in the next four years to grow New Zealand's teaching workforce. (Source: 1News)
"Having that $20,000 won't cover all their costs but it certainly will make a difference, and it will get more people through that door."
The NZEI would like to see "more of this", Potter continued.
"There are other ways of being trained than just on-the-job training, so we want to see this offered out to anyone who is taking education for being a teacher so that they all have that equal opportunity to be supported through that period," he said.
"More and more people are leaving because our teachers are very employable overseas, we know that we've also had... lowering numbers of people prepared to train to be a teacher.
"We've also got a growing population – so we really need to make sure our teacher work supply is up to the numbers that we need."
He repeated that there were "different providers and different ways of training teachers", calling for money in other areas such as for trainees in tertiary institutions.
"The more people that have incentives to join teaching, the better our teacher workforce will be – and every child has a right to have a trained, qualified teacher in front of them. This will be a help."
However, the number of new teachers this measure provided "still won't be enough", Potter said.
"That gives you some idea of what the education sector is wrestling with."
Some schools more likely to embrace it
Potter also noted that schools would need to make a contribution to the training – so "this particular programme is of high appeal to schools in high income areas" as they were more likely to be able to pay their share.
"It is an equity issue, we would like to make sure that every community has that opportunity.
"We're optimistic that this idea will be attractive – it just needs to be attractive to far more people."
Education Minister Erica Stanford, in announcing the policy yesterday, said the "significant" investment in training, recruitment and development will help meet demand by growing the domestic and overseas pipeline of teachers.
"We are being proactive in addressing the forecast future need for teachers, with recent estimates showing up to 680 more secondary teachers could be needed within the next three years.
"These initiatives provide much-needed support and stability of funding for these critical frontline positions.
"With this significant investment in our teachers, a knowledge-rich curriculum, investment of $67 million over four years into structured literacy, and a focus on teaching the basics brilliantly, this coalition Government will lift student achievement to ensure all Kiwi kids can reach their full potential."
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