Should teachers pay so much to work?

I opened my inbox the other day. The junk emails had the usual lovely guy from Nigeria requesting my bank details to share his huge inheritance with me. One email caught my eye. It was from the Teaching Council of Aotearoa.

The council is meant to be the professional body for all teachers in New Zealand. Teachers need to gain approval from this council to be allowed to teach in New Zealand. They are then issued a card.

Few teachers flash their card at social functions. I lost mine a few months back trying to buy drinks with it at a bar. I’ve struggled on without it.

The email informed me that I would need to pay $500 rather than $220 for the privilege of teaching in New Zealand. There is a major teacher shortage in New Zealand. No-one is queuing up for my job. Being required to pay substantial extra money for the privilege is bizarre.

The email said that this Government has removed the subsidy for the Teaching Council as the professional body for teachers. It then emphasised what the council does to enhance my daily life as a teacher. It didn’t inspire me to reach for my credit card.

Last year, this Government promoted a huge revamp of our schooling system. They have since scaled this back, like many of their initial policy initiatives. It was poorly conceived and the opposition was vocal.

So ‘‘Tomorrow’s Schools lite’’ is the result. Part of this watered down reform is to develop training for school leadership. This is a worthwhile initiative. But it appears teachers are now being asked to fund this political initiative.

The council currently ensures registered teachers meet the professional standards required. It takes disciplinary action against teachers who fail to meet these standards.

But the huge increase in the fees for the privilege of teaching in New Zealand was mainly justified by the need to pay for leadership training in our schools. This is a key part of the ‘‘ Tomorrow’s Schools lite’’ reforms.

This is like requiring the workers at Fisher & Paykel to pay for the training of managers at their firm. This may be a first, in New Zealand.

I am 55 years old and enjoy teaching but am unlikely to experience a late spurt on the career ladder (my principal frequently assures me of this).

I’m actually OK with my hourly pay rate. I enjoy the guys I teach. I like my colleagues, except for one. I enjoy the management, despite my lack of career progression. They do their best under difficult conditions.

Doctors and lawyers and accountants have professional bodies that ensure professional standards. But their main role is gate-keeping to maintain their pay and conditions and status. This gate-keeping is the hallmark of any professional body.

In New Zealand, whenever there is a shortage of teachers the gates are thrown wide open to overseas teachers.

I will finish my less mediocre teaching career doing the best by my students. But I have no desire to pay a lot more money to fund a Government initiative to train my bosses.

■ Peter Lyons teaches economics at St Peter’s College in Epsom and has written several economics texts.