KEY POINTS:
New teachers are slipping into the classroom without the skills, knowledge and temperament needed to do the job, according to a major review of teacher training.
The discussion document, just released by the Ministry of Education, called for a crackdown to ensure all newly registered teachers were up to scratch.
The Teachers Council admitted it didn't know if incompetent teachers were entering the workforce as national measures to test certain skills didn't exist.
It comes amid a drive to push up teacher numbers to fill a predicted shortfall of up to 1000 next year.
Some feared the "mass panic" to find enough teachers to reduce the ratio of new entrant students to teachers next year would lead to a drop in quality.
Education Minister Steve Maharey will today deliver a speech detailing the latest move to boost teacher numbers.
The number of incompetent new teachers could not be quantified, with the review suggesting only a "significant minority" of teachers gaining full registration may have been falling short.
But in 2004, an Education Review Office report found widespread problems with new graduates in their first two years of provisional registration. Then, almost half of beginner secondary teachers and a third of novice primary teachers did not reach the required level of competence.
The latest review raised questions about the selection of teacher trainees and the quality of training programmes and their graduates.
It found the relatively low public opinion of teachers compared to their standing in many other OECD countries was a problem.
Despite the perception of short hours fronting the classroom and good holidays, few people wanted the job.
It found the approach to quality assurance was "relatively light-handed".
While many other countries had a centralised system that controlled entry to the profession, New Zealand relied more on schools to judge if teachers were ready to be fully registered after two years in the classroom.
This led to a "variable quality" in knowledge and skills of new teachers.
Aspiring teachers undergo a training programme, four years long at some institutions, before applying for provisional registration.
They spend at least two years as a beginning teacher in the classroom while getting advice and guidance, before applying for full registration.
Teachers Council's manager of policy and strategic development Cynthia Shaw said certain requirements, known as satisfactory teacher dimensions, were used when teachers applied for full registration.
She said a review of the standards, started last year, was likely to introduce measures to better ensure schools across the country expected the same level of skill in new teachers.
She said she was confident high standards were applied but it was impossible to tell if incompetent teachers were slipping through.
"It could be the case - but we actually don't know."
Victoria University education dean Professor Dugald Scott said principals were confused about how to measure the competency of new teachers because of parallel standards from the Teachers Council and in employment agreements. He said the transition to full registration was handled well by most schools.
NZ Post Primary Teachers Association president, Robin Duff, said ongoing monitoring processes, including competency checks, for new staff needed to be established.
Mr Duff said some schools were paying up to $20,000 to recruitment agencies to find teachers.
