Housing incentives for teachers mooted

Incentives to keep secondary teachers in the profession are being mooted by the Post Primary teachers Association (PPTA)

They include $20,000 toward a house deposit for new secondary teachers under a union proposal designed to pull more teachers into schools and to keep them there longer, The Sunday Star Times reported today.

The PPTA will discuss the plan at its annual conference next month, where members will decide if it becomes part of a pay claims package put to the Government at next year's negotiations.

The incentive aims to encourage teachers to take jobs in hard-to-staff cities and isolated areas. A bonding system would ensure recipients continued teaching in New Zealand.

The PPTA, which has 18,000 members, is also moving to establish a credit union similar to that available to police, and is considering proposals from several banks.

This would give teachers special deals on all types of loans, with interest rates about 0.5 percent below market rates.

A third of new teachers were leaving within three years of starting the job, and many who trained in New Zealand were being lured to higher-paying jobs overseas, PPTA president Kate Gainsford said.

Housing had been identified as a critical factor that acted as a disincentive.

The PPTA said the $20,000 would be paid as a lump sum to teachers in their first four years on the job. The teacher would then be bonded to continue teaching in New Zealand for another four years, or pay a portion of the $20,000 back if they quit.

- NZPA