Schools start year hundreds of teachers short as vacancies climb 12%

Secondary Principals Council chair Steve McCracken said vacancies are taking longer to fill than in the past.

New Zealand schools are short hundreds of teachers and principals as the new term begins.

The Education Gazette lists 445 vacancies nationwide - 12% more than this time last year.

There are 44 principal and senior leadership vacancies, including assistant and deputy roles.

For early childhood centres, 164 positions are advertised, alongside 107 at primary schools and 132 at secondary level.

About 75% of vacancies are in the North Island, with 125 in Auckland alone.

The PPTA says the increase is concerning, but Education Minister Erica Stanford has pushed back, saying the comparison is not accurate as many of the vacancies are not fulltime roles.

She told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that regions like Northland did have a teacher supply problem, but it was important to wait for official Ministry of Education supply figures to come out to see where there were local shortages.

Last year, the Ministry of Education’s Teacher Demand and Supply report warned that schools could be short 1250 teachers due to roll growth and increased classroom release time.

Primary schools will need 1550 more teachers over the next three years, with secondary schools requiring 1035.

Secondary Principals Council chair Steve McCracken said multiple factors are driving the shortage.

“We’ve got an ageing workforce population and a number of teachers are nearing the end of their careers.

“And we’ve got a workforce that, at the end of last year, went into bargaining for pay and equity, so that would have had an impact as well.”

Maths and physics remain the hardest subjects to fill, with 18 vacancies at secondary schools – about 13% at this level.

McCracken added that vacancies are taking longer to fill than in the past.

“But at the end of the day, we want quality teachers in front of students to give them the best academic outcomes that they can.”

PPTA president Chris Abercrombie said it was concerning to see an increase in vacancies in January.

“The principals are in a really sore situation of trying to find staff, and will be, unfortunately, making decisions, very quickly in some of these areas.”

Despite the challenges, McCracken said schools are committed to ensuring students are well supported as the year begins.

“The schools that are still looking for teachers will make do and make sure that their students are well supported as they enter the school year.”

Stanford told Mike Hosking this morning she had expected the vacancy rate to be higher, as the Government had funded “a huge amount” of additional support teacher roles.

But heavy investment in teacher supply over the past two years was paying off, she said.

With an oversupply of primary teachers in countries like Scotland and Finland, the Government was paying a $10,000 relocation fee and bringing in straight-to-residence pathways rather than a two-year work-to-residence pathway, she said.

“Last year we saw that … 2.5% more teachers are in the workforce, [there’s been a] 30% increase on teachers who are training. So the numbers for the future are looking really good.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education, social issues and general news. She joined Newstalk ZB in 2023 after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.