Teacher Shortage Worst In Southland

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31836, 14 November 1968, Page 9

Teacher Shortage Worst In Southland

The shortage of secondary-school teachers in the South Island is not as marked as in the North Island but is a problem in some provincial areas, according to the Education Department’s senior district inspector of secondary schools (Mr F. N. Wylde, of Christchurch).

| Schools in Christchurch and Dunedin were not very ! badly off, he said on Tuesday. I The shortage was worst in j Southland. i The staff most sought were science, mathematics, and experienced language teachers, said Mr Wylde. The secretary of the Christchurch Secondary Schools’ Council (Mr P. J Halligan) agreed that the situation in Christchurch schools was not as bad as that in North Island . centres. Government approval of an improved staffing schedule for sixth forms and other .reasons meant, however, that (there were still a few gaps Ito be filled, he said, i Asked to elaborate on an 'announcement by the director of secondary education (Mr M. Hewitson) of training courses for graduates, Mr Wylde said a special course for mature graduates wishing to enter teaching had been in use for some time. This was a three-month course and was designed for people from science, commerce, engineering, the church and other spheres as well as for married women graduates, who wished to take up teaching for various reasons.

I The course was held at a secondary school, and graduates involved were paid during their training as if they were teaching. Lectures were given and several graduates grouped at one school. Seven or eight teachers completed this course in the South Island during the last year, Mr Wylde said. More than 50 would have entered

teaching since the scheme began. Asked what else was being done to help meet the shortage of teachers, he said efforts were being made to employ part-time teachers. As a result of the increase in the staffing ratio for sixth forms, some Christchurch schools had already advertised for part-time teachers.

It would be 1970 before the full effect of the recentlyannounced teacher recruiting campaign in Britain was felt in New Zealand, Mr Wylde said. Around 100 teachers had arrived in this country this year through overseas recruitment. Asked to what extent it was possible to pool teaching resources among secondary schools, Mr Wylde said this was possible to a degree, and was carried out in Dunedin and Greymouth. In Timaru three schools combined for senior science. But this sort of thing depended on the location of schools, and could only be done where classes were small. ‘Tn comparison with the North Island, we are infinitely better off in Christchurch,” said Mr Halligan. In some districts the situation was extremely difficult and he could think of two schools which did not get a single application for vacant positions. It was too early yet, Mr Halligan said, to say how many part-time teaching posts would be filled in Christchurch, and he did not know precise details. The situation would be clearer at the beginning of next year.