Revelations thousands of teachers are working in mainstream New Zealand schools without authorisation are concerning.
The Teachers Council - the professional and regulatory body for registered teachers in New Zealand under the Education Act -
reportedly made checks in the past year, which involved matching its registration records with Ministry of Education payroll data.
The council expected to find a minority of teachers with lapsed registrations. It found almost 10% of teachers - 5045 in total - had expired practising certificates. It also discovered 433 people were working as teachers without any council record of them.
There are about 50,000 principals, teachers and support staff who work in primary, area and secondary schools, as well as early childhood centres, special education and school advisory services.
The vast number are dedicated professionals performing one of the most important roles in society. Many work far more hours than for which they are paid, work hard to continue their own development, and meet the range of teaching and administrative tasks required of them by the Ministry of Education to keep our education system respected internationally.
Most teachers care passionately about their pupils, and the parents and families of their school community.
Teachers Council acting director Rob MacIntosh said the majority of unregistered teachers had simply let their three-year registrations expire through oversight, because they were reconsidering their future or because they were teaching for fewer than the 20 half-days allowed before authorisation is required.
But the public needs to have confidence that proper checks and balances are in place and those entrusted with teaching children are identifiable, safe and permitted to be there.
Issues of safety and accountability have been highlighted with several recent sex abuse cases involving teachers.
They include that of convicted sex offender Te Rito Henry Miki, who had an extensive criminal history and was reportedly subject to an Extended Supervision Order, yet had been working under another teacher's registration for years - in several schools.
Of course, registration is not an automatic safeguard against such predators. But ''being on the books'' and therefore on the radar is surely fundamental, even in the case of occasional staff.
And surely an automatic system alert every time a registration is due for renewal is possible?Schools, the Teachers Council and Education Ministry must clearly look at their own processes - again.
Mr MacIntosh said the data-matching gave an assurance that ''the right people'' were teaching and if they did not have appropriate training and skills ''the situation is addressed''. But to find about 5500 teachers unregistered or unaccounted for seems remarkable just two and a-half years after Miki was jailed,
and a subsequent ministerial inquiry and review of the Teachers Council complete with a raft of recommendations.
Worryingly though, an Education Review Office report at the beginning of this year found one-third of schools lacked the policies and practices to ensure they do not hire sex offenders, and some had still not acted on the results of the Miki and James Parker inquiries.
It would appear there are other issues to consider, too. The number of lapses and teachers ''reconsidering'' their positions begs questions about complacency and satisfaction. It also raises the issue of consistency.
The Government's controversial charter schools (renamed ''partnership schools'' or kura hourua), which were pushed as a result of its deal with Act New Zealand, allow a percentage of untrained, unqualified and unregistered teachers - considered a real snub to and by those in the profession.
Mix that with the raft of other upsets teachers have dealt with in the past few years and it is hard not to wonder whether there is a level of discontent bubbling away under the surface which may be coming into play.
The council and ministry clearly need to examine the wider issues, for dissatisfaction and complacency are not conducive to the council's functions of encouraging ''best practice in teaching''.
Finally, teachers too must lead by example and ensure their registrations are current. Otherwise, what message are they sending about the importance of process, safety and accountability?
