Teachers' Council standards must rise, say Nats

The Government should immediately order the Teachers' Council to raise its standards, National Party education spokesman Bill English said today.

Education Minister Steve Maharey yesterday said he met the Teachers' Council -- the body responsible for registering teachers -- after it was revealed it had registered teachers with drugs, violence and sexual convictions.

The Herald on Sunday reported at the weekend that at least 20 such teachers had returned to work since 2002 without parents knowing about their background.

Offences included having sex with a student, sexually abusing a minor, battery, importing ecstasy and supplying cannabis.

Mr Maharey said the council had assured him the registrations were appropriate and that it closely monitored any terms attached to them.

The council also assured him it had robust processes in place.

But Mr English today said it was the standards the council was applying that were questionable.

"I think the Teachers' Council does have a robust process, but the standards they are applying as the bottom line are just too low," Mr English said on National Radio.

Because the Privacy Act meant the council could not publicise the whereabouts of the individual teachers, the standards it applied needed to be high enough to ensure public confidence.

"If parents can't be told then we need to know that teachers who have done these things ... can't be in classrooms no matter what their personal circumstances," Mr English said on National Radio.

Standards needed to reflect the high standards of the majority of teachers, he said.

But Mr Maharey defended council members, most of whom were also parents.

"The notion that people who have this kind of professional responsibility, plus being parents, are sitting there and allowing blithely people to return to the classroom who should not be there is offensive really," he said on National Radio.

Mr Maharey said the council was being as open as possible about its decisions -- publishing them on a public website -- but was prevented by the Privacy Act from naming the teachers or the schools they taught at.

He said the chairman of the Teachers' Council had undertaken to review the files to ensure all conditions put in place on teachers who had faced complaints had been followed.

Principals were usually responsible for monitoring the teacher.

The council would also be reporting to the Government if it found any need to improve the registration regime.

The council's director, Peter Lind, has stood by the council's decisions, saying each case was thoroughly investigated.

- NZPA