Teachers told to be mobile

Press, 13 February 1982, Page 11

Teachers told to be mobile

Applicants for primary teaching positions are "selling themselves short" bystating that they are immobile (unable to take up a position elsewhere because of family or other commitments), says the Christchurch branch of the Educational Institute.

"A lot of people are telling the Education Board that they are immobile because they want to get a job near home, or in Christchurch," said the branch chairman. Mr A. G. Teale. “We have advised them against this. They must learn to make the system work for them," he said. Such applicants were letting themselves down by placing a degree of immobility upon themselves. Vacancies were still occurring only occasionally in the primary sector, and most mostly in rural or isolated areas. Vacancies that were available near the end of last month included one in the Chatham Islands, said Mr Teale. Not unnaturally, most applicants preferred jobs in or near Christchurch.

The general manager of the Canterbury Education Board, Mr D. Wilson, said that there were about 20 teachers who had continuous service, and were “immobile," without jobs in Canterbury.

However, that was less than half the number who were looking for jobs at this time last year, he said. All schools were fully staffed, and although jobs were “popping up” occasionally, they were most often relieving positions. .

He was not aware of any “mobile" primary teachers without jobs. Because they had more choice, they more quickly found positions, he said.

Mr Teale said that he knew of about 50 teachers with unbroken service who were unemployed, although he did not know how many were mobile or immobile.

There were also some unemployed secondary school teachers, especially training college graduates. The southern regional superintendent of the Christchurch Education Department, Mr B. K. Gainsford, said that there were 69 first-year mobile teachers without jobs. He did not know how many immobile teachers there were, because many did not bother to register. He could not release the number of immobile teachers who had registered. The department was re-

ceiving an increased number of inquiries from teachers who had returned from overseas, although there was nd account of the number who had returned, said Mr Gainsford.

The Canterbury regional chairman of the Post-Prim-ary Teachers’ Association. Mr F- O’Connell, said that the situation was a “lot better” than at the end of the training college year, last year, when there were 200 unemployed graduates. A support group for unemployed teachers had not been used much, probably because most of those unemployed had not been teachers previously, and, apart from counselling, there was not “a lot we can do.” said Mr O’Connell.