Schools find it easier to fill jobs

Staffing of traditionally hard-to-fill subjects in schools has improved.

Technology and mathematics and statistics - among the most difficult subjects to staff - have considerably lower vacancies than in previous years, according to a Ministry of Education survey.

The number of vacancies in technology dropped from 17.4 per cent to 14.4 per cent and the open spots in mathematics and statistics fell from 16.8 per cent to 10.2 per cent.

Lynne Whitney, the ministry's senior manager of research, said most New Zealand schools started off the year with 99 per cent of their entitlement positions filled - a slightly higher number than last year.

Entitlement positions are those that are funded by the ministry.

Ms Whitney said the good results seen in the survey were no coincidence.

Over the past few years the ministry had offered a range of TeachNZ Scholarships and initiatives to encourage teachers to return to the profession and to train and work in hard-to-staff specific subjects and areas.

Initiatives included allowances for those training in hard-to-fill subjects, loan support for teachers in hard-to-fill geographical areas, relocation grants, returning-to-teaching allowances and free retraining for former secondary teachers.

The numbers of vacancies in secondary schools sat at 149 at the beginning of the school year (a slight drop on last year), while entitlement vacancies in primary schools stayed the same as the previous year at 181.

- NZPA