Critical teacher shortage

Press, 25 January 1979, Page 6

Critical teacher shortage

PA Wellington, The critical teacher short-1 age in some parts of New Zealand may mean that some classes are curtailed when secondary schools start next week. Although the shortage is unlikely to affect the Christchurch area at all, some subjects, such as accounting, may have to be taught through correspondence school elsewhere, said the president of the PostPrimary Teachers’ Association (Mr R. E, M. Hodge) in Wellington yesterday.

Mr Hodge led a P.P.T.A. deputation which met the Minister of Education (Mr Wellington) at Parliament yesterday morning. The meeting came after talks between the Minister and the association before Christmas, at which the P.P.T.A. expressed its concern about the probable; teacher shortage.

Proposals to ease the!

problem were put to the Minister, who presented a report on the situation to the Cabinet on Tuesday. According to the association, there are shortages in almost all areas but particularly in English and also the traditional areas of mathematics and science.

Mr Hodge said the situation was “grave” and although some schools could “plug the gap” with relieving teachers, this was only an interim measure. But although he believed the Minister realised the

seriousness of the situation, “the Government as a whole has not faced the fact that this (alleviating the problem) is going to be a costly business.” He said the P.P.T.A. had discussed proposals to attract persons back into teaching, including salary improvements, staffing improvements. better conditions of service, and attractions for I the return of teachers who. I had left the service.

But the association was firmly opposed to any move to recruit teachers overseas. This had been done in the past as a stop-gap- measure, but was not seen as a longterm solution. Mr Hodge said that both the association and the Department of Education would do a survey of the staff shortage once schools had resumed, and would consider the problem again then.

But the Minister said yesterday that any action’ to resolve the shortage would not be taken for at least five or six months. He had no plan for ahy short-term improvements in the service. The paper he presented to the Cabinet on Tuesday was to acquaint the Ministers with the situation and to outline the proposals to remedy it. “What I have to do in the next five or six months is determine the priority areas, • and go back to the appropri>ate and various Cabinet com-

mittees with mote detailed proposals.” the Minister said. Mr Wellington said he would “watch very closely the impact the job situation had on the school rolls.” He believed there would be young people returning to school because they could not find employment. Christchurch is unlikely to share in the shortage. Neither the regional superintendent of the Education Department (Mr R. U. Roy) nor the Canterbury chairman of the P.P.T.A. (Mr M. Cook) expects a shortage in Christchurch this year.

Both Mr Roy and Mr Cook said that Christchurch was fortunate in its supply of teachers and rarely suffered shortages other than in a few specialist subjects. Other areas such as the West Coast, the North Is-; land’s east coast, and Auckland were not so lucky, Mr I Roy said. Any shortage ini the coming year would be; felt in those areas first. 1