Retired teachers to rescue

Desperate measures as schools face staffing gaps, writes Amanda Saxton.

Principals are trying to cajole former teachers out of retirement in an attempt to plug classroom shortages.

Just days before term one begins, many have had to call upon former teachers or try to import them from overseas in a last-gasp attempt to fill hundreds of vacancies.

Others will split classes without teachers between existing staff, or cut subjects. The Ministry of Education suggested schools without the capacity to teach maths could enrol students with Te Kura, the correspondence school.

Industry experts agree the shortage boils down to the profession being under-valued, reflected by OECD data showing our secondary school teachers earn less than Mexico’s.

President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation Whetu Cormick said teachers of technology, te reo, maths, and science had ‘‘become gold dust’’ throughout the country, while expensive cities like Auckland or isolated areas had shortages across the subject spectrum.

‘‘I know there are many, many principals wondering and worrying what they’re going to do next week,’’ he said.

The Education Gazette had 324 vacancy listings for primary and secondary teachers needed before the end of term one.

Cormick had feared his school, Bathgate Park School in Dunedin, would lose its Maori immersion stream when its only te reo speaking teacher left in December.

‘‘We got one single applicant for that job; I was so scared someone else would snap him up that I told my acting principal we had to get him, whatever the cost,’’ he said.

New Zealand is running out of teachers partly because people don’t want to teach. Ministry of Education data shows trainee teacher numbers have dropped in

I know there are many, many principals wondering and worrying what they’re going to do next week. Whetu Cormick

recent years, and just under half of new recruits at state secondary schools quit within five years. Thirty-five per cent of secondary school teachers will hit retirement age within the next decade.

The pay – capped at $78,000 for experienced teachers with PhDs – was too low for its workload, said Cormick. Lagging salaries, dragging hours, kids’ behavioural issues, and the stress of compliance requirements made for unappealing work.

‘‘Young people can’t help but think they’re going to get paid a heck of a lot more in the corporate sector, and get more respect too,’’ he said.

Rotorua’s John Paul College failed to find two new teachers – one for maths, one for science – after advertising at the end of last year.

Principal Patrick Walsh approached two retired teachers who, ‘‘with a bit of arm twisting’’, agreed to return.

On south Auckland’s urbanrural fringe, Rosehill College had two teachers staying on past planned retirement to cover for staff unable to make the beginning of term one.

The Ministry of Education said it was working with struggling principals on contingency plans, and most schools would start the year fully staffed.

The Government announced a $9.5 million teacher supply package at the end of last year.