President Of N.Z.E.I. Replies To Minister

Press, Volume C, Issue 29630, 28 September 1961, Page 17

President Of N.Z.E.I. Replies To Minister

(New Zealand Press Association)

N. PLYMOUTH, Sept. 27. Exception to statements made by the Minister of Education (Mr Tennent) regarding the shortage of teachers has been taken by the New Zealand Educational Institute. Figures regarding the teacher shortage issued by the N.Z.E.I. at the opening of its annual conference on Tuesday were described by the Minister as “misleading,” but the N.Z.E.I. denies this is so. “The N.Z.E.I. has no desire to mislead anyone,” said Mr J. Nesbit, the Dominion president, today. “Mr Tennent used the occasion to accuse the Dominion secretary of the institute (Mr G. R. Ashbridge) of presenting information on the teacher shortage to the public in a way that seriously aggravated the magnitude of staffing problems.

“The accusation is flatly denied,” said Mr Nesbit. “There is no need to exaggerate. The information which is being sent to the Dominion secretary by head teachers each week is just as ‘official’ as the Minister’s own sources, and, indeed, could well be more reliable, “Our information gives details affecting particular schools, and thereby presents a more comprehensive picture of where the day-to-day shortages are than the statistical unit used by the Minister to quote the total shortage on one particular day. “What was the position the day before, or the day after, or over a weekly period?" said Mr Nesbit.

“The Minister complains that this method of present • ing information takes into

account classes without teachers for some part of the period ‘which might be no more than a few days.’ But this is part of the information we have been collecting to convince the Minister that a crisis exists, and we cannot accept that it should be dismissed so lightly,” Mr Nesbit said.

“Everyone is painfully aware of the problems created by the shortage of class-room teachers. For too long the problem has been met by expedients, including the employment of uncertificated relievers, the number rising from 150 in June to 190 by the middle of this month. “We have never claimed that the Minister is responsible for the present crisis, but to the N.ZiE.I. it appears that he is minimising its gravity,” Mr Nesbit said.