One Gore high school is already feeling the effects of the teacher shortage around the country, and another school principal is concerned about the future.
According to the annual Teacher Demand and Supply Planning Projection, schools around New Zealand are facing a teacher deficit, with an additional 750 primary school teachers and 500 secondary school teachers needed in New Zealand schools.
Māruawai School principal Mel Hamilton said the school’s senior campus was dealing with a shortage.
‘‘I’m short two maths teachers, a learning hub teacher, and some part-time work.
‘‘The maths teachers, we’ve been advertising for one since August last year.
‘‘We flew two applicants down from the North Island and interviewed them, but we haven’t found the right person for the role,’’ she said.
Mrs Hamilton said vacancies in staff led to accommodations being made, which affected students andstaff.
‘‘It puts pressure on the staff that are here, who have to teach.
‘‘The shortage puts pressure on the heads of department, because non-specialists are teaching their role.
‘‘They’re great teachers, the non-specialists, but [heads of department] have to help them with lesson planning and content.
‘‘Some of our senior maths classes are bigger. We would have normally spread them.
The open vacancies were receiving a lot of applications from overseas teachers, and Mrs Hamilton said although the school had hired some, there were challenges.
‘‘We’ve brought in overseas teachers. We had two South Africans start this year, a husband and wife. But there’s a significant wait time while they tie up their affairs where they are, to come over.
‘‘A lot of applicants, too, have English as a second language, which can be a big deal for us.
‘‘We’ve interviewed a few [ESOL applicants], but there are some immediate, obvious difficulties when you interview them online,’’ she said.
Mrs Hamilton said the decision to hire an overseas applicant must not be taken lightly.
‘‘They’ve moved countries. You have to be fair. It’s finding the right fit for them, the school, and the kids. It’s very tricky,’’ she said.
Mrs Hamilton said she was unsure of the reasons behind the shortage, as she still loves and believes in teaching as a profession.
‘‘I wish I knew. It’s a great job. It’s interesting, challenging. All I know is right now we have great teachers in front of kids. But it’s tenuous. Very tenuous,’’ she said.
St Peter’s College principal Kieran Udy said St Peter’s did not have a teacher shortage issue at the moment but that could change quickly.
‘‘Nationwide there definitely is a shortage. It doesn’t affect us at the moment, per se, but equally in three months’ time it could,’’ Mr Udy said.
The issue was not new but was on a downwards trend.
‘‘I think it’s been a crisis for 10 years. I don’t think it’s just been discovered, it’s just consecutive governments haven’t done enough.
‘‘It’s been an issue for about 10 years at least, and getting progressively worse.
‘‘Each year the pool of applicants reduces. I think it’s getting worse each year,’’ he said.
Mr Udy said the rise of overseas applicants for teaching positions was not a magic bullet, as it came with its own set of challenges.
‘‘The solution can’t just be recruiting from overseas from very different systems. It’s not just a plain swap.
‘‘Quite a few are from systems where it’s very teacher-led, almost lecture style, learning as acquisition, which is very different from the New Zealand system which can be quite a shock,’’ he said.
Mr Udy said the teacher shortage was the result of a multitude of factors, including workload and New Zealand teachers heading overseas for greener grasses.
‘‘It even goes back to when I trained 13, 14 years ago. The numbers going to teachers college weren’t high. Most people don’t stay teaching beyond five years.
‘‘Australia is directly recruiting from New Zealand. The work conditions are far better, long service leave, higher remuneration, higher superannuation.
‘‘[There’s] increased demands on teachers, with internal marking with NCEA. Teacher workload, the complexity of what students are coming to school with adds to it as well,’’ he said.
When it came to solutions, Mr Udy was unsure of any magic bullet.
‘‘I don’t know what the magic answer is. Obviously where the economy is at, we can’t just give massive pay increases, but it’s not just about pay.
‘‘It needs a long-term approach to it, because it will hit a real crisis point sometime soon.
‘‘Something needs to be done, because I wonder in 10 years’ time what we’ll be doing,’’ he said.
