Foreign teachers to fix crisis short-term
With secondary school teachers on the cusp of industrial action, Education Minister Chris Hipkins is pledging to find at least 400 overseas teachers for the 2019 academic year.
In a move designed to quell concerns over a deepening crisis in education, recruitment agents will be used to find ‘‘quality teachers to fill vacancies listed by schools’’ from other countries, the Ministry of Education confirmed. But Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) president Jack Boyle has rejected the move, saying there was a global shortage of teachers and New Zealand’s teachers faced a job that was ‘‘too big’’ that paid ‘‘rubbish’’ money. He struggled to see the attraction for ideal recruits, unless pay and workload issues were overcome.
Efforts to strengthen the secondary school workforce came as PPTA members rejected the latest collective agreement offer from the Government on Tuesday. Before the vote at the PPTA’s annual conference in Wellington, Hipkins recognised that new foreign teachers would not be a silver bullet to the staffing problem.
‘‘I want to be clear at this point that I don’t see relying on overseas recruitment as the ultimate solution to our teacher shortage.
‘‘Recruiting and equipping them with the skills they need will take some time,’’ he said.
Ministry deputy secretary of early learning and student achievement Ellen MacGregor-Reid said New Zealand teachers working overseas and overseastrained teachers willing to teach in areas and subjects ‘‘under pressure’’ were being sought.
‘‘We are focused on attracting quality teachers with preapproved qualifications that meet New Zealand’s requirements,’’ MacGregor-Reid said.
The ministry declined to reveal how much the recruitment campaign was costing, citing commercial sensitivity.
However, MacGregor-Reid did say recruited teachers could be eligible for an overseas relocation grant, while schools could claim a finder’s fee of $3000 to help recoup their costs. ‘‘These two payments combined can be up to $10,000 for a New Zealand teacher coming home and $8000 for an overseas teacher moving to New Zealand,’’ she said.
The decision to open up the classrooms to foreign teachers came as the PPTA’s 17,000-strong membership refused to endorse the ministry’s latest offer.
It offered yearly pay rises of between 2 and 3 per cent for three years. PPTA members were seeking a salary increase of 15 per cent in one year.
The offer would have seen beginner teachers’ base salaries lift from $51,200 to $55,137, while base salaries for teachers at the top of the pay scale would grow from $78,000 to $85,233.
The unanimous rejection came a day after unionised primary teachers and principals chose to put a week-long rolling strike to a vote this month, and followed a day of industrial action in August.
‘‘We are focused on attracting quality teachers.’’
Ellen MacGregor-Reid Ministry of Education