In the past five years there have been more than 70 complaints laid over conduct/convictions for teachers in the Manawatu-Wanganui region.
An Official Information Act request to the New Zealand Teachers Council from the Wanganui Chronicle shows that since 2007 the council has considered the cases of 672 teachers nationally, who had criminal convictions.
The 72 complaints in regard to conduct/convictions for teachers in the Manawatu/Wanganui region could not be broken down into the two separate districts.
Wanganui Primary Principals Association president Charles Oliver, also the principal of Wanganui Intermediate School, was disappointed to hear how many complaints there had been to the New Zealand Teachers Council since 2007.
"It does seem a lot but, considering it is over a five-year period and includes all teachers in the Wanganui/Manawatu district, it does break down to an average of around 12 complaints per year." Not all of the teachers complained about would have been dismissed, he said.
"As principal of a school I am very aware of the mandatory reporting requirements for precisely the offences listed in your information from the teachers' council." He said it was heartening to know that teachers who behaved in such a manner were subject to disciplinary action by the teachers' council.
There rightly needed to be high standards of conduct expected of teachers, he said.
"Teachers need to be aware of the position they hold in our communities and need to conduct themselves accordingly. I fully support the work of the New Zealand Teachers Council over the disciplinary actions they take." Some Wanganui school principals were reticent to comment on the figures, saying that was because they had not had problems at their schools.
Wanganui City College principal Peter Kaua said there had never been a problem with teacher complaints in his years at the school. "And I don't know of any before that either. Since I have been here we have never had a problem with complaints against teachers. Before we make a staff appointment a police vet is done in accordance with NZ Teachers Council compliance."
Secondary Principals Association president Patrick Walsh said the figures were disappointing.
"But one has to keep in mind there are approximately 80,000 registered teachers, so it is only a tiny proportion who offend like this, with the majority doing an excellent job."