More teachers are applying for secondary school vacancies this year than in the previous three years, but the pool of suitable candidates has barely grown, according to a new staffing survey from PPTA Te Wehengarua.
The March survey of secondary principals nationwide found that for 60% of both classroom teaching and leadership vacancies, schools had no real choice of suitable applicant; either there were none at all, or only one suitable applicant.
PPTA president Chris Abercrombie said the apparent easing of the teacher shortage masks a deeper problem. Schools may be filling more roles, he said, but “there are significant concerns about how those positions are being filled.” Appointing someone simply because they were the only suitable applicant undermines confidence that schools are getting the best person for the job.
Only 49% of domestic applicants assessed by schools were considered suitable this year, down from 66% last year. Suitability among overseas applicants dropped from 9 to 7%, the second-lowest figure in the survey’s 30-year history. Meanwhile, schools’ use of teachers holding a Limited Authority to Teach has climbed to its highest level in three years, and the highest since 2003.
Further detail from the survey, based on responses from 155 principals collected early in Term 1, shows just how tight the margins are. Across all reported vacancies, 23% had no suitable applicant and 28% had only one.
One in five reported vacancies could not be filled at all. 8% were filled by people without teaching qualifications. Nearly half of respondents said they now had untrained people working as teachers because they could not find qualified staff, which is down from a high of 57% last year.
The survey also found the overall number of applicants per vacancy was among the highest on record, but the bulk of that growth came from overseas candidates. New Zealand-trained applicants per vacancy sat at 2.9, one of the lowest figures on record, while the proportion judged suitable was among the lowest since the survey began 30 years ago.
Steve McCracken, chair of the Secondary Principals’ Council, said the results reinforce the need to lift the status of secondary teaching in New Zealand, describing it as a career that should be “vied for by hundreds of great candidates.”
Abercrombie said the timing is especially concerning given major curriculum and assessment changes now underway, which demand a workforce with strong subject knowledge and teaching skill. Both leaders are calling on the Government to invest properly in the teaching workforce to secure a reliable pipeline of qualified, suitable educators.
