Hundreds of teachers convicted
Drug, alcohol crimes top offences among educators, figures show. Shani Williams reports.
Drunk drivers, fraudsters and child pornography offenders are amongthe 627 Kiwi teachers who received a criminal conviction in the past five years.
The Education Council (EC) received 2794 complaints, mandatory reports and notifications of convictions over the period. Twenty-six teachers were struck off the register between 2013 and 2015 while none were struck off in the past two years.
The council could not provide statistics on how many of the 127,426 registered teachers across the country had a criminal conviction on their record from outside the five years.
Teachers need only report convictions that could carry a potential penalty of three months or more in prison.
In the past few months several teachers made news headlines for criminal behaviour, including former school principal Paul Roger Herrick, who sexually assaulted his pupils and was released on parole in January, and a former Waikato teacher who had sex with a student in his classroom after school that was sent to jail for two years.
From January to November 2017, 104 teachers received convictions. There were 114 in 2016, 107 in 2015, 136 in 2014 and 166 in 2013.
The criminal convictions range from drug and alcohol offences to fraud, violence and sex offences. The majority were for alcohol and drugs (409), followed by dishonesty (46) and violence (31).
Minister of Education Chris Hipkins said teaching was the largest profession in New Zealand and the proportion of de-registrations was very small and getting the balance right between teachers’ rights and children’s safety was important to maintain public confidence.
Like everyone else teachers had a right to expect natural justice and a degree of privacy, Hipkins said, and whether a teacher with a conviction should be allowed to teach depended on the type and severity of the offence.
Checks as to whether a teacher has a conviction can be made through a police background check, conducted every three years, through a court registrar or if a teacher self-reports.
EC senior manager of professional responsibility Andy Greig said the council dealt with each teacher on a case-by-case basis.
For example, if a teacher received a first-time conviction for a drink-driving offence, and it was the only conviction and there were no other mitigating circumstances, the Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC) would consider the conviction and write to the teacher letting him or her know the standards required of the teacher and advise that this is not appropriate behaviour, Greig said.
He would not speculate as to how many teachers who did not report their convictions.
Auckland University professor of Education Peter O’Connor said the notion of self-disclosure was a tricky one.
‘‘It is an honesty system, with any honesty system there can be issues, but there is no evidence to suggest this honesty system doesn’t work.’’
Teachers deserved a level of privacy and the disclosure of a criminal offence should be the employer’s decision, he said.
But if the quality of teaching is affected, then parents have the right to approach the board of trustees, he said.
NZEI Te Riu Roa president Lynda Stuart said there are very strict protocols in place in schools and services to ensure child safety and the quality of teachers’ professional practice.
Teacher convictions