Crisis in classrooms, union says

A year 13 student was brought in to look after a class as the ‘‘unprecedented’’ teacher deficit worsens, a teachers’ union says.

The Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) is campaigning for the problem to be urgently addressed. It comes as claims of big or cancelled classes have led the Government to order the Ministry of Education to investigate.

The Education Gazette yesterday had 21 teaching vacancies in Wellington secondary schools and 172 nationwide.

The union said there were specialised classes being taught by unqualified teachers, multilevel NCEA classes being taught in single lessons, and there were fewer trainee teachers signing up – and that was just in Wellington.

Nationwide, one-in-five teachers were older than 60 and planned to retire soon; there were 40 per cent fewer trainee teachers than eight years ago; 40 per cent of new teachers left within five years; and principals admitted to employing staff they would not normally hire. But the ministry has cast doubt on some of the union figures.

‘‘These factors are why we are now dealing with an unprecedented teacher shortage and they will cause the shortages to worsen if we do not adequately address this now,’’ PPTA Wellington chairman Ahmad Osama said. The union is currently amid collective negotiations and, while better pay rates were one aspect needed to attract more teachers, other factors such as work conditions and class sizes played a part, Osama said.

Union president Jack Boyle knew of one school – which he would not name – where a year 13 student was brought in to look after a junior class. He also knew of senior classes where there were no available teachers, meaning the classes just looked after themselves.

The shortage of teachers meant the pool of relievers had largely been brought into teaching fulltime, which meant there were very few relievers available.

The lack of trainee teachers dated back to 2009.

‘‘Our demographics are shifting to the point we are just facing disaster.’’ While vacancies were down on the same time in 2018, this was largely because schools were ditching specialised subjects, Boyle said. ‘‘They are giving up, they are changing their offerings in the school, not teaching particular subjects.’’

Education Minister Chris Hipkins said claims of big and cancelled classes were ‘‘concerning if true’’. ‘‘I will ask the ministry to investigate. It should not be happening.’’

Trainee teachers dropped by 40 per cent while wages stalled and workloads increased under the previous, National Government, he said.

‘‘The coalition Government can’t correct that overnight – it takes at least three years to train a teacher,’’ Hipkins said.

The Government was already offering teachers a good settlement in collective negotiations, and investing $40 million in encouraging former teachers back and getting teachers from ‘‘like-minded’’ countries.

The Government was also working with teachers and principals on reforms including improving planning and teacher forecasts. The number of trainees was already increasing, he said.

Ministry of Education’s Ellen MacGregor-Reid said year 13 students should not be looking after classes and, if the PPTA notified the ministry, it would investigate. The ministry could also help recruit.

‘‘Significant investment has been made to increase the supply of qualified teachers for schools ... to hire.’’ Early, anecdotal reports showed an increase in new trainees, she said.

MacGregor-Reid argued retention rates of new teachers were far better than the union’s claims and she was not aware of principals having to make compromises in new appointments.

‘‘Our demographics are shifting ... we are just facing disaster.’’

Teachers’ leader Jack Boyle