Governments response to schools' teacher needs

Education Minister Wyatt Creech today moved to clear-up misunderstandings about the nature of the Governments response to schools teacher needs as the start of the school year looms.

First, the Auckland Teacher Supply Group announced at the weekend is not a flying squad as dubbed in the media.

The group is a list of teachers seeking work who do not as yet have a job. The Ministry of Education will meet the teachers costs of being in Auckland so they are available for jobs at schools which still have appointments to make at the start of the school year.

While 40 are organised for this role now, more can quickly be found if necessary. This is a back-up measure for schools having severe problems getting staff at the beginning of the school year.

The Auckland Supply Group is not a panic measure. It was put to me as a suggestion in November last year, and agreed to as one of a package of measures designed to deal with the challenge of ensuring sufficient teachers were available to meet school needs.

Secondly, I have noted a West Coast principal wants a similar group in that region. However the Education Ministry has been in contact with the West Coast Branch of the Principals Federation which represents primary principals, and it is confident it will have enough teachers to fill vacancies there.

The Auckland Supply Group is a practical response to pressures in Auckland. The reality is that most of the roll growth is happening in Auckland and most of the pressure this year is in primary schools.

Thirdly, suggestions the Government was ignoring the situation in secondary schools and rural schools were also wrong.

Since I have been Minister we have put in place 20 initiatives designed to ensure there are enough quality teachers to fill vacancies. Before Christmas there were sufficient quality teachers, trained either in New Zealand or overseas, to meet the demand. It is up to schools to actually employ the available teachers. I urge them to act.

Lastly, concern has been expressed about the Education Ministrys advice to principals to consider using uncertified teachers.

The advice is to consider using these teachers. Except as a short term palliative (10 days), no school can employ a person that is not approved by the Teacher Registration Board with either full or limited authority to teach. In order to be registered with the Board teachers must demonstrate they are competent.

The Ministry is providing back-up Correspondence School resources for the short term uncertified teachers to ensure an acceptable education is continued for the children.

The fact is that good quality permanent teachers are available within New Zealand and overseas, and if they come from overseas then extra support is available to them to adapt to the New Zealand curriculum and environment.

I am concerned that parents and the community are being unnecessarily panicked.

The Government had sought practical solutions to the teacher supply problem to ensure everything practicable was being done to ensure our young people are taught by quality teachers.

If some schools face a delay in getting the teachers they have appointed, I want to make sure that as the school year starts all the bases are covered so that schools have no reason to revert to unacceptable actions such as sending children home, or closing schools because of a lack of teachers.