Mallard pledges work for jobless primary teachers

Trevor Mallard. File picture

Primary teachers currently unable to find employment will be able to get jobs later this year, Education Minister Trevor Mallard said today.

National Party education spokesman Bill English has criticised the Government for spending money training primary school teachers who were not getting jobs.

He said Education Ministry figures showed that only 56 per cent of primary teaching graduates from 2000 had found work by 2004. Of those graduating in 2002, half had yet to find work.

"Labour is spending millions training more primary teachers despite a surplus. This money would be much better spent plugging the gaps in secondary teaching where there is a considerable shortage," Mr English said.

However Mr Mallard said some of the surplus would be needed when teachers were freed from classrooms in term four this year once non-contact time provisions start.

The Government had promised to spend more than $80 million to provide up to 800 extra teachers, giving the country's 25,000 primary teachers 10 hours of classroom release time a term.

Primary teachers' union the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) negotiated the release last October after teachers had expressed concerns about their heavy workloads.

Mr Mallard said he did not have statistics on the number of extra teachers as some went into other jobs or moved overseas.

"Although the feedback I've had is that trying to get relief teachers in a number of areas is quite tough," he told National Radio.

"And, because in term four this year we're bringing in non-contact time, there will be jobs for another substantial group and there's some concern about whether we'll be able to fill all those positions."

Mr Mallard said it was not up to the Government to control what people studied and said a teaching degree was a good basis for people to get other work.

"You cannot have a system where the minister of education decides which degrees people do other than in very expensive courses like medicine."

Mr English said quality rather than quantity should be the goal.

"There's still concern about the quality of some graduates turning up at schools," he said.

"The second thing is one of the reasons we are training many more primary graduates than we need is because the teachers colleges make good financial margins. Primary graduates are less expensive to train than secondary graduates."

Mr Mallard said there was already different funding for secondary and primary training but Mr English said it needed to be increased.

- NZPA