Letters to the editor: No encouragement to teach

Re-registering to become a teacher is a timely and expensive process, a reader says. Photo / Getty Images

No enticement to education

I have total sympathy for the principals and their lack of relief staff, however, I also have little time for a system that doesn't address a problem of its own making.

Trained teachers who no longer teach who could be encouraged back, particularly into relief teaching.

I trained as a primary teacher for three years, taught 11 years in primary, intermediate and secondary schools, taught for a further four years in tertiary, and was a fulltime curriculum writer for another three years.

Working in other sectors now means I do not have current registration.

I know of no one who went to teachers college with me who is still teaching.

All are now working in other sectors, often self-employed and are the same position regarding registration and thus the ability to teach in schools.

A person with a degree who has completed one year of teacher training has more right to stand in front of a class than I do with my 21 years' experience.

I would have to undergo further training, which would take six months — at my cost.

That is not an encouragement nor does it recruit any of those capable people prepared to make themselves available for relief teaching.

I have sympathy for the predicament that principals and teachers find themselves in, but have no sympathy for a system that chooses to ignore capable and trained professionals. (Abridged)

Penny Henderson
McLaren Falls

New road needed

Further to recent correspondents, whilst the proposed, but now apparently cancelled, Northern Arterial road was initially only going to be about 8km long its major benefit was that it would have provided another access way over the Wairoa River.

Currently, in the event of an accident on the existing two-laned bridge, traffic is gridlocked.

By diverting traffic, neighbourhoods are obviously made considerably safer and then, of course, the road could always be extended through to Katikati and even further afield.

The Eastern Arterial has proven how successful new roads can be and without new roads being built, traffic issues will continue to plague us.

Mike Baker
Bethlehem

Waitangi rights

Article III of the Treaty of Waitangi gave Māori equal rights to those enjoyed by all other British subjects.

Nothing like it happened anywhere else in the world. It means that today we are all equal.

We want to work together as equals, not see those who happen to have at least one Māori ancestor have a separate system, with a preferential status.

In local government, an elected councillor should see every person as his or her equal, and should represent them all without fear or favour.

We already have people who are elected representatives on our council who are part Māori, one of them on the Māori roll, and I understand they are insulted when people argue that we have no Māori in our local government.

So, to Mr Dey, the Treaty gave us equality before the law, please respect that and stop twisting the truth.

Margaret Murray-Benge
Bethlehem