Trainees plan campaign

Press, 10 September 1984, Page 9

Trainees plan campaign

Christchurch teacher trainees plan an antirecruitment campaign to highlight the plight of trainees, according to the president of the Christchurch Teacher Trainees’ Association, Ms Christine Farr. “Trainees’ conditions have not really changed under the new Government and we do not believe the Edcatation Department or anyone else should be encouraging people to get into teaching,” she said. • . The Christchurch campaign would be finalised at s'J meeting of trainees on

Wednesday, Ms Farr said. , More than 200 teacher trainees at a meeting in Auckland have decided to discourage secondary students from entering the profession, reports the Press Association. It was part of a national campaign to highlight the plight of trainees, said the president of the Auckland Teacher Trainees’ Association, Mrs Carole Curtis. Some trainees had to work up to 18 hours a day, combining part-time jobs with their studies, to survive, she said. ,4.Applications for /next

year’s trainee intake have already closed, but campaign organisers say that many of those applying are still unsure of their choice of career and could be swayed before the final interviews in October and November.

Mrs Curtis said that pressure and stress affected work standards, trainees’ health and forced growing numbers to drop out. Most trainees, she said, lived on $3O a week and needed up to $lO,OOO on top of Government grants to pay for their three years at college.