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The Greens says a small injection in the budget won’t address the workforce problems that are affecting New Zealand schools and students, especially around te reo teachers.
The Government is taking $5 million from the tertiary education budget to Teach First New Zealand, a private organisation which aims to fast track graduates into teaching.
The money will allow it to train another 90 teachers, which will go into schools with high numbers of Maori, Pacific Island and low income students.
Greens education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty says the Government hasn’t done the work to ensure there are enough teachers for the increasing number of children.
Teachers are leaving as they get older and newer teachers are burning out.
Opening up the market on teacher education through initiatives like Teach First NZ does not guarantee quality, and also ignores issues like learning support and cultural responsiveness.
Ms Delahunty says not having enough qualified teachers is a barrier to the Greens’ objective of having te reo Maori taught in all schools.
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