Quality of teachers dropping fast in Auckland

A number of central Auckland schools are worried about the dramatic drop in the quality of teachers, on top of the region's mass shortage.

The Auckland Primary Principals Association last week described the shortage as the worst in decades, and called on the Ministry of Education to act.

That view was also held by Emma Wallace, a member on the Mt Eden Normal Primary's board of trustees, who also thinks the Ministry's in denial about the crisis they're facing.

She said the board, along with five others in the area, met recently and all shared the same concern around the ongoing difficulty to fill vacancies and the evident drop in the number of experienced teachers.

"Two years ago, some of our colleagues in other schools may have got 200 applications for a job, now we're getting one or two.

"In terms of the quality ... we're seeing a real drop in quality. Definitions of an experienced teacher are changing from 8 to 9 years, to about 1 to 2 years."

She said the other thing they were seeing was that with the shortage, particularly in winter, they're looking for relievers.

"Lots of schools are splitting classes during the day, which really compromises your class plan and the lessons the children are getting that day."

Wallace said schools were coping by being creative but it was only a short-term fix.

"Is it about helping people with their student loans? What are the other things we could be doing? We just want to think a bit more creatively around it because we're not going to solve transport and housing ... but what could we do?"

She said nine teachers left their school last year - six of whom left Auckland altogether.

The Ministry of Education has been approached for comment.