Teacher shortage looming at city schools

A number of Auckland schools are finding it difficult to fill their teaching roster less than two weeks before the start of a new year,

One school is recruiting from as far away as England.

Nearly 80 secondary teaching roles are vacant across Auckland, according to the Education Gazette website, which advertises education vacancies, and 48 primary positions. Five Matauranga Maori roles are also empty.

Those figures do not include middle and senior management positions.

Nationally, almost 130 primary teacher positions are being advertised, and 176 secondary teachers. However, some of those positions are advertised in both primary and secondary sections.

Russell Brooke, principal of Long Bay College on the North Shore, said it was a nightmare to find teachers with the right skill-set. It was an issue across all subjects, he said. He was recruiting as far as England, which not all schools can afford to do.

It was almost impossible to find a teacher who is up to speed with the modern adolescent, is technologically savvy and can teach to scholarship level, Brooke said.

Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SPANZ) president Sandy Pasley said most schools were struggling to find skilled teachers.

A big factor was the cost of living in Auckland, she said.

The city’s “ridiculous” house prices have already forced a number of teachers out, with three young science teachers from Mt Albert Grammar blaming the cost of buying a home for their decision to leave the city last year.

Last month, the Herald reported hundreds of teaching positions were vacant. More than 600 teaching jobs were waiting to be filled across the country.

Schools were struggling to arrange timetables and classes for the 2017 year.

Nearly 200 of those vacancies were in crucial science and maths jobs — areas that have become increasingly difficult to fill as science, engineering and maths university graduates get picked up by highpaying corporate and private sector companies.