Low-decile schools lack applicants
Low-decile schools have a harder time hiring staff than high-decile ones, a survey has found.
The New Zealand Council for Education Research survey of 349 state primary and intermediate schools showed that 64 per cent of low-decile (1 and 2) schools had difficulty hiring staff compared to 31 per cent of high-decile schools (9 and 10).
‘‘Decile was associated with a school’s ability to find suitable staff,’’ chief researcher Cathy Wylie said.
Lower decile schools were more likely to be affected by student mobility, transience and poverty, she said, which impacted school resourcing due to uncertainty of staffing.
‘‘You have to work hard in those schools. It’s got a very strong moral purpose to it.’’
New Zealand Principals’ Federation president Whetu Cormick said teacher shortages were widespread regardless of decile. He had heard of a low-decile South Auckland school that had failed to attract any applicants for a role.
High-growth areas, like Auckland and Queenstown, and rural areas found it difficult to attract staff.
Low and high-decile schools faced different challenges, he said.
‘‘What we’re finding across the country irrespective of the area the school is in [is] that the number of applicants are down.’’
Christchurch’s Bromley School principal Scot Kinley said said while it was not the case at his school, he could see how public perception could play a part in the decision to apply for a teaching job.
‘‘Maybe the perception of what a low-decile school is like may need to be broken at learning institutions.’’
Bromley School had a good relationship with teacher training organisations, he said, and student teachers got to experience a low-decile school first-hand.
The survey also found the proportion of principals having difficulty finding suitable teachers had doubled since 2013 to 41 per cent.
Two-thirds of principals were using operational funds and locally-raised funds to hire additional teaching staff.
Only 8 per cent of principals found their school funding sufficient and nearly half had reduced their spending.
Around 92 per cent of principals found their level of operational funding to be insufficient.