Grants to attract teacher trainees

By STUART DYE


Trainee teachers will be paid up to $20,000 to enter the profession under three new scholarships aimed at boosting teacher numbers and making education a more attractive career.

Students training in early childhood, Maori and Pasifika languages, or degrees where there is a shortage of secondary teachers, will benefit from the schemes.

The Government will plough more than $72 million into the programmes, which will boost the number of scholarships across those areas from under 700 each year to several thousands.

Successful applicants will be bonded to teach for at least the length of time they studied under the deals.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard said it was a major investment in teaching that demonstrated a commitment to "ensuring all schools are able to hire highly qualified teachers in any subject area".

The language scholarships replace those only available to trainee teachers of Maori and Pasifika descent.

Mr Mallard said the Government had concluded that scholarships based on ethnicity, offered since the 1990s, could not be justified.

"What is clear, however, is that teachers able to teach in the medium of Maori and Pasifika languages are in short supply."

The second programme aims to overcome the financial barriers preventing some students entering early childhood teacher training.

Under the scheme they will be able to train part-time while continuing to work.

"Research shows that teacher qualifications are a key factor in delivering quality early childhood education," said Mr Mallard.

"We also know that regular and high-quality early childhood education makes a noticeable and positive impact on a student's educational success in later life.

"We need more qualified teachers to help in this incredibly important goal."

The package also includes the extension of bonuses available to primary and secondary teachers to the early childhood sector.

That includes grants for shifting to high-demand areas, grants for teachers returning to the industry, grants for primary teachers to switch to early childhood, and more funding for training services in Auckland.

The final programme will meet the cost of study fees for a three-year degree and a year of teacher education in secondary school subjects with staff shortages.

"There is no limit on the number of scholarships awarded for secondary teaching each year, so anyone who includes a sufficient number of papers in one of these subject areas and agrees to become a secondary teacher could be eligible," Mr Mallard said.

Applications for next year's scholarships open in November.

Phil Smith, president of the Post-Primary Teachers' Association, said the secondary scholarships would make a considerable difference in recruitment.

It was the re-introduction of an old scheme that had helped to attract and retain thousands of teachers, he said.

"It's what I had as a young student teacher and it's helped to keep me in the profession for more than 25 years."

Scholarship schemes

For students of any ethnicity able to teach in Maori language in either early childhood, primary or secondary education, and in Pasifika language in early childhood education.

For students from low-income backgrounds to train as early childhood teachers.

For secondary teachers studying towards degrees in maths, te reo Maori, physics, chemistry and technology.