Registration cost, Covid-19 risk prompting relief teachers to leave

There are more teachers, but the number working as substitute teachers to fill in when staff are sick has dropped. Photo / 123RF

By Samantha Gee of RNZ

Rising registration costs and the risk of getting Covid-19 are prompting some relief teachers to look for other work, just when schools need them more than ever.

Official figures show there are more teachers, but the number working as substitute teachers to fill in when staff are sick has dropped by a third in the past nine years.

That has left schools with nobody to staff classrooms during the current Covid-19 and influenza outbreaks.

Secondary teacher Paul said relieving meant his weekly income was never secure.

"It's really just those two middle of the year terms where you've got people sick that traditionally you always got work, so you had to really try and capitalise on that, but now with Covid, it's a slightly different situation that people are sick all throughout the year."

The arrival of Covid-19 also made the classroom a more risky environment and Paul said enforcing mask wearing was an ongoing battle.

"I had a kid yesterday who was coughing without covering his face.

"I didn't want to single him out and there was another kid down the end of the room coughing as well, so I said, 'You boys that are coughing, can you go to the health office and get a mask to wear please?'

"The one of them that was closest to me, he started coughing louder."

Paul said he felt apprehensive about being in the classroom at the moment.

"I went home that night and I thought 'I can't do this, you know, I just I don't know if it's worth it. It's so dangerous, I've already had Covid, I don't want to get a second time."

David, who worked as a reliever for a couple of days a week, said he would soon call it quits because the cost of teacher registration was too high.

"When my registration comes up in August I'm not paying $300-plus to re-register and go through reams and reams of paperwork to renew, so I'll be leaving - not doing relief anymore."

Another Auckland secondary school teacher RNZ spoke to said she would be doing the same when her registration ended, due to the poor pay and poor treatment.

Peter, a retired secondary teacher, had benefited from the huge demand for relievers.

Last term, he worked all but four days at one school.

"The work has increased but I think the number of relievers has decreased. Even before Covid, the number of teachers was gradually getting whittled down and whittled down, because they're just getting older and older and can't do it anymore."

At 72, he had no plans to stop.

"It doesn't physically stress me, it doesn't mentally stress me. I know the battles I can win in the classroom and the ones I can't.

"I'll keep going while I feel good about it and the other thing is at the moment given the situation my school is in, along with all the others, I feel morally bound if I'm fit enough, to turn up."

Principals said there were fewer relief teachers due to changes in teacher registration rules and because the teacher shortage had prompted many schools to persuade their relievers to take permanent jobs.

Relievers told RNZ they were paid for five hours' work a day, but schools expected them to work at least an hour more than that, unpaid.

They said it was difficult to claim sick days, even though they were eligible, and one teacher said she had more than 90 days of accrued sick leave.

Educational Institute president Liam Rutherford said relief teachers were vital and they needed more job security, proper sick leave and better pay.

"What we are seeing is that schools' need for relievers is outstripping the number of relievers that are there because as a workforce, we're just not making it an attractive proposition for teachers to be able to move into."

Working conditions for relievers needed to improve in order to keep schools running, especially through a pandemic, he said.

- RNZ