Swings + Roundabouts Summer 2017

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With the swearing into office of the new
Government, and new Minister’s in place,
there have been renewed calls for decision
makers to address the teacher shortages
across the education sector.
The Early Childhood Council (ECC) has
written to the new Minister of Immigration,
Iain Lees-Galloway requesting adding ECE-
qualified and experienced overseas-trained
teachers to the list of those skilled groups
that are scarce in New Zealand.
The ECC wrote to the previous Minister of
Immigration in September, but did not get
a reply. They have offered to meet the
Minister about this issue and will keep you
updated if they get a response from an ECE
point of view.
ECC Chief Executive Officer, Peter Reynolds,
says informal information from early
childhood centres nation-wide suggests they
TEACHER SHORTAGES
too are finding it hard to get relievers and fill
vacancies.
The ECC has heard from members on their
Facebook page that teacher shortages are
a complex issue and one that has been
a long time in the making. What's more,
there are lots of layers involved around the
time lags and bureaucracy that can exist
across the departments that recognise
qualifications and register teachers. For an
overseas trained teacher to work in New
Zealand ECE, the ECC understands teachers
can face lengthy delays as they go through
Immigration NZ, New Zealand Qualifications
Authority (NZQA), and the Education Council
processes. The ECC has talked to all of these
agencies.
The ECC also contacted the Ministry of
Education and received advice that a special
taskforce will work on resolving the teacher
shortage.
However, the ECC understands this could
take up to 15-years and does not offer any
practical solution to the over 2,600 licensed
childcare centres throughout the country.
The ECC recommends there be an urgent
move to address the teacher shortages
across the whole education sector, and one
option is to immediately look at the Skilled
Migrant and Essential Skills policies, rather
than leaving this skill category to the usual
annual review.
For practical advice on overcoming some
of these staffing issues, read the news
item, Potential alternatives for centres
experiencing a shortage of qualified teachers
on (member section).
The ECC would also like to hear from you
if you are experiencing difficulties getting
relief teachers or filling vacancies for
qualified teachers related to the ongoing
teacher shortages. It is important that the
government hears this issue is not just
an Auckland one, and not just related to
primary schools.
December 2017 { 19 }