Erica Stanford’s classroom plan should be a relief to teachers - Editorial

Minister of Education Erica Stanford said she was surprised there was opposition to the plan.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Few would argue with that sentiment from former South African statesman Nelson Mandela.

The students gathered to hear those words at a US high school in June 1990 would not have had the pleasure if they’d been rostered to study from home that day.

Pupils being at home, as opposed to in front of a teacher, is a worrying trend in New Zealand classrooms – with Ōrewa College the latest school forced to keep some children away.

As the Herald reported last week, Ōrewa College principal Wiri Warriner said in an email to parents that the shortage of relievers in schools nationwide had reached a critical point.

Warriner said this has forced the school to roster year groups home for online learning, with the first year likely to be its Year 11 students.

The school had implemented several measures, such as splitting Year 7 and 8 classes, combining classes and having Year 13s work independently.

“Despite these efforts, our pool of available relievers is nearing exhaustion,” Warriner said.

New Zealand Post-Primary Teachers’ Association Te Wehengarua (PPTA) president Chris Abercrombie said Ōrewa College was not alone in its plan to roster students at home.

“Increasing numbers of secondary schools around the motu are being forced to do this because of a shortage of teachers,” Abercrombie told the Herald.

It was curious then to see the PPTA’s resistance to the plan from Education Minister Erica Stanford to try to use relief teachers to ease pressure on schools.

PPTA president Chris Abercrombie said the ad-hoc response by the Government meant students wouldn’t be taught by trained and qualified subject specialist teachers.

Under the short-term scheme, the Teaching Council will loosen eligibility criteria for Limited Authorities to Teach (LATs) to allow previously registered teachers to get back into the classroom.

An LAT enables those without a teaching qualification to teach in positions where there is a need for specialist skills or skills are in short supply.

The change means that as well as experts who aren’t qualified teachers, previously registered teachers can now also come into classrooms as relievers.

Abercrombie, however, said the Government’s ad-hoc response meant students wouldn’t be taught by trained and qualified subject specialist teachers.

“The minister is essentially looking to flood classrooms with unregistered relievers,” he said.

Erica Stanford said she was surprised there was opposition.

Ōrewa College may roster students home for online learning due to a critical staff shortage. Photo / Google Maps

“There are a whole bunch of incredible teachers out there – they don’t forget how to teach. And actually, when we’ve got a real need right now, we’ve got Ōrewa College and other colleges rostering home kids – that’s the alternative,” she told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking.

There’s no doubt that relief teachers are an imperfect solution – learning is best when students are in a routine with a person who has been tracking their progress.

But having students supervised at school is a far better alternative than rostering them off to study at home.

It beggars belief that the PPTA can’t see that.

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