Trainees may be paid more

Press, 13 March 1986, Page 9

Trainees may be paid more

It was clear that teacher trainees had to be paid more if teachers college quotas were to be filled in the future, said the Minister of Education, Mr Marshall.

Mr Marshall said while he was in Christchurch yesterday that quotas had not been filled this year partially because those quotas had been increased. Another problem was that the quota had been set too late, so that many potential trainees had found other jobs. But for many potential trainees, the decision to attend teachers’ college came down to a question of remuneration, he

said. “We have clearly got to face up to the fact that we get people who apply but do not go (to college) because they cannot afford it,” he said. This

especially applied to secondary trainees. A report would come out soon suggesting ways to overcome the problem, he said. One obvious proposal was to increase the bursary paid to trainees; the other was to pay them a salary. “I think those working in the field would prefer the second option, but there are big dollar signs hanging over that,” Mr Marshall said.