Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga Partnership With Ministry Of Education For Teacher Education Refresh Programme Continues

Tuesday, 20 December 2022, 9:52 am
Press Release: Open Polytechnic

Over 1000 teachers have graduated from the Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga Teacher Education Refresh programme since it was first launched in 2018, and the specialist online distance learning provider and business division of Te Pūkenga, has now signed a new contract with the Ministry of Education to continue delivering the programme.

The programme is fees-free and is fully funded by the Ministry of Education. It is aimed at early childhood, primary and secondary teachers who have graduated from an initial undergraduate teaching degree but have not achieved a full practising certificate within a five-year period; are returning to the workforce after a lengthy period; or have trained overseas.

Completing the Teacher Education Refresh programme enables graduates to apply to be provisionally certified by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Executive Director Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga, Alan Cadwallader, says “the Ministry’s continued funding of this successful programme is an endorsement of the effectiveness of the programme in providing a pathway for teachers seeking to return to their profession.”

Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga, Programme Delivery Manager for the Teacher Education Refresh Programme, Karen Kane, says the positive impact of the partnership with the Ministry of Education will be engaging teaching staff into schools as quickly as possible with teachers being able to retain their relieving or teaching positions by completing the programme.

"With so many graduates completing the Teacher Education Refresh programme, it will create provision for much needed teaching staff in schools and the early childhood education sector in New Zealand.”

Open Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga learner and Tawa College kaiako (teacher), Melissa Ross recently completed the programme. After training overseas and returning to New Zealand, she needed to complete the Teacher Education Refresh Programme to continue teaching.

“I already knew a lot, but what was beneficial about the Teacher Education Refresh programme, was revisiting the cultural side of things and how things work in a New Zealand context, including the delivery of standards and subjects, and universal design for learning.”

Melissa says it also made things a lot easier with the course being fees free.

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