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National Summit To Gather Student Teachers’ Perspectives
12 July 2012 - NZUSA Media Release – For immediate
release
National Summit
To Gather Student Teachers’ Perspective On Impacts Of A
Changing Sector
The New
Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) is holding
a national Student Teacher Summit in Wellington tomorrow
(Friday13 July).
“We are holding this Summit because we believe students who are being educated and trained to work in the compulsory education sector as our next generation of school teachers deserve to be fully informed about, and involved in, any changes that are going to impact on them,” said Pete Hodkinson, NZUSA President.
“The fact that the 2012 Budget has stripped student teachers of their eligibility for extensions to the 200 week entitlement for Student Allowance is one of several changes that will directly impact student teachers.
“Past research has already shown student teachers are being burdened with high levels of debt, and this new decision will push them into more debt at the same time as the per dollar level of repayment is being increased by 20%,” said Hodkinson.
“Our concern – shared with the New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI) and Post Primary Teachers' Association Te Wehengarua (PPTA) – is that policy changes need to consider the special circumstances faced by student teachers.
“No one – least of all this government – can understate the importance of achieving quality outcomes for students who deliver early childhood, primary and secondary education. Putting unfair pressures on student teachers, or leaving them out of the picture as has so often happened, is a recipe for disproportional anxiety and for undermining the quality of their education and training.
“Big questions have to be asked. If policies aren’t well considered will we end up with a less stable and less diverse teaching profession? Will limiting entry to teaching to a postgraduate pathway have a negative impact on the diversity of people who enter teaching? Will the need to carry greater debt levels put teaching out of reach for working class New Zealanders? If we don’t value the public good delivered by teachers, what do we value?”
NZUSA will be reporting separately on topics raised at the summit.
ENDS
NZUSA - New Zealand Union of Students' Associations
We stand for opportunity, for all.
NZUSA is the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations, the national body that represents New Zealand's students' associations and the interests of New Zealand's 400,000 students at universities, polytechnics and in trades training.
We conduct original research, advocate to Government and through the media, and support New Zealand's students' associations to be more effective on behalf of their members. We advocate alongside Te Mana Akonga – The National Māori Students' Association, and Tertiary Women New Zealand – The NZUSA Women's Caucus.
Since 1929, we've believed in a society rich in opportunity, where anyone from anywhere can become any thing. We support accessible, affordable quality public tertiary education.
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