No incentive for regional teachers

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Larger city schools have benefited more from a scheme designed to fill teacher shortages than Whanganui schools, the local teachers' association head believes.

The Voluntary Bonding Scheme, which aimed to encourage graduates to remain in New Zealand and fill workforce shortages, has had just 24 teaching graduates complete its three-year minimum requirement across Taranaki, Manawatu and Whanganui since it began in 2009.

Participants can receive a maximum of $17,500 from the scheme - $10,500 before tax after their third year teaching and then $3500 after their fourth and fifth years of teaching. If participants have a student loan, the money will go towards paying it back.

The Wanganui Chronicle asked the Ministry of Education how many teachers failed to meet their three-year requirement but was told it was not recorded.

Seven Whanganui schools currently qualify for the scheme. However, Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) Manawatu/Whanganui chairman Alan Carson said he wasn't aware of the scheme having much of an impact.

"The fact is a lot of graduates don't want to come to rural areas which don't have everything they're used to in their university towns."

Several subject areas were still hard to staff, he said.

"Maths, sciences, accounting ... A lot of the teachers aren't actually trained in those fields.

"It's no surprise, really. Why would you go into teaching if you can earn more and work better hours in the commercial sector?"

Teachers were expected to do more and more, without additional benefits, he said.

"Teachers are increasingly expected to take part in the community. So not only do they do class preparation outside of school hours, but they are also often involved heavily in sports and other activities.

"Teachers are also expected to do a lot of social work."

Parliament needed to consider teaching a "high quality profession" and commit to long-term policies in order to improve education and attract more people to teaching, he said.

Nationwide, 620 teachers have done at least three years in the Voluntary Bonding Scheme since it began in 2009.

Ministry of Education acting deputy secretary of student achievement Lesley Hoskin said the uptake of the scheme was much lower than anticipated as supply and demand had changed significantly.

"There has been very little movement within the workforce, vacancy levels dropped to a 10-year low in 2010, and continue to remain relatively low," she said.

Labour's Education spokesman Chris Hipkins supported the scheme but said it should be more closely monitored.

"There's absolutely no doubt we want to encourage people into the teaching profession but it should be updated annually with basic information of who's signing up for it and if they're still in it," he said.

"What's working and what's not should be constantly being considered so the programme can be refined."

Mr Hipkins believed teacher training should more closely meet the needs of the workforce.

"That means you wouldn't be training an abundance of teachers in one area and a scarcity in another," he said.

ELIGIBLE SCHOOLS
Aranui School
Castlecliff School
Patea Area School
Rutherford Junior High School
Tawhero School
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