Three teachers were convicted in Otago on drug and alcohol charges in 2013 but have managed to keep their teacher registration, information from the New Zealand Teachers Council has revealed.
The Teachers Council declined to name the teachers or the schools at which they worked, but council director Peter Lind said the three teachers' convictions carried a possible sentence of three months or more in prison.
The number of teacher convictions in Otago during 2013 was significantly lower than in 2012, when 11 teachers received convictions - the highest number in more than 20 years.
Dr Lind said the three Otago convictions were among 172 teacher convictions nationwide in 2013.
Of those, 121 were for alcohol/drugs offences; seven were for dishonesty offences; 18 were for driving offences; two were for sexual offences; 13 were for violence and 11 were for ''other'' offences.
As at February 7 this year, two teachers had had their teachers' council registrations cancelled because of convictions received during 2013, but neither of those was from Otago.
At present, more than 116,500 teachers are registered with the NZTC, and of those, 101,331 hold a practising certificate.
Otago Secondary Principals' Association chairman Mason Stretch said that overall, the number of teachers receiving criminal convictions in Otago last year was small when compared with the number of teachers working in New Zealand.
''I do think three is low and that has got to be a good thing.
''It reflects positively on the professionals here. It is pleasing also that the Teachers Council is using its processes to ensure that teachers are accountable.''
Dr Lind said 43 of the 172 conviction cases reported to the council in 2013 were still being investigated by either the council's complaints assessment committee (CAC) or the council's disciplinary tribunal.
The CAC referred convictions to the disciplinary tribunal if it believed the conviction was serious enough to warrant possible suspension or cancellation of the teacher's registration.
''Only the disciplinary tribunal has the power to cancel a teacher's registration because of a conviction.
''Any teacher receiving a criminal conviction is a concern to the profession, particularly because of the trusted role a teacher holds in the community.''
He said teachers were required to report any conviction they received that was punishable by imprisonment of three months or more to the council within seven days of receiving the conviction notice.
Court registrars also had to report teacher convictions to the council.
