Staffing recommendations for secondary education welcomed

By Post Primary Teachers Association

Report recommends extra staffing for all schools

Increases in secondary school staffing recommended by the Staffing Review Group are urgent and should be implemented urgently, Post Primary Teachers' Association president Jen McCutcheon said today .

"The Government is to be congratulated on initiating this investigation into staffing. It's the first time in 15 years a Government has investigated staffing and workload issues of secondary teachers. This report is very welcome and long overdue," Jen McCutcheon said.

"While the report recommends extra staffing for all schools, we note the focus of extra staffing for small and low decile schools and welcome it."

"Better staffing is the key to improving working conditions in schools and attracting and keeping highly qualified teachers. Reducing the workload of secondary teachers means they will have more time to spend with individual students and that will ultimately lead to a better education system."

However she warned that the recommendations would need to be implemented in full by 2004 if teacher workload and supply problems currently faced by teachers are to be addressed.

"New Zealand has one of the worst teacher to pupil ratios in the OECD at 21 to one. The OECD mean is 15.1. The extra staffing proposed is modest but helpful. However drip feeding over an extended period of time will do nothing to improve secondary teacher workload. It should be fully implemented and as soon as possible."

"We look forward to the Government's response to this report and its recommendations."

Sourced from: Newsroom