Together We Can Solve The Teacher Shortage

The acknowledgment of a teacher shortage by Minister Stanford, following the Ministry of Education’s recognition of a significant error in the 2023 Teacher Demand and Supply Planning Project, underscores the urgent need to prioritise teacher retention and recruitment across the entire education sector - zero to eighteen.

The Ministry of Education has admitted that the sector will have an under supply of 750 primary teachers and 500 secondary teachers this year – as opposed to the projected surpluses of 1050 primary school teachers and 61 secondary teachers. The error was the result of not factoring in classroom release, non-contact time and increased immigration.

“I’m not at all surprised the Minister for Education has said she is ‘widely displeased’, says Te Rito Maioha CE Kathy Wolfe. “Accurate data is vitally important when setting targets and appropriately funding and supporting initiatives to increase the number of qualified teachers.”

“We understand that Minister Stanford had raised concerns with the Ministry because what she was hearing from principals didn’t match with the Ministry’s projections. We’re grateful, that as a result of listening to the sector, the Minister has pressed the Ministry to re-examine the data.” The Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector has been warning the Minister of Education and Ministry regarding shortages of teachers in ECE for a number of years, and sadly it too has fallen on deaf ears. We look forward to commitments for ECE.”

“As an Initial Teacher Education provider (ITE) in both the Primary and ECE sectors, Te Rito Maioha has consistently advocated for a Teacher Education Workforce Strategy. Now that the teacher shortage has been acknowledged, it is time to ramp up the work that has been undertaken to address the issues that lead to teachers exiting the profession, and the factors that influence the numbers of students that undertake initial teacher education to become a qualified teacher.”

“In September 2024, 19 education sector groups came together to consider teacher supply and retention and agreed that there was a chronic and critical shortage of teachers across the ECE, primary and secondary sectors and there was an immediate need to find a systemic solution to prevent further attrition. As a group, we agreed to formulate solutions for the challenges of teacher supply focusing on recruitment, education, and retention. The solutions will require a spotlight on remuneration, working conditions and raising the status of the teaching profession.” These were sent to the Minister of Education.

“We know that the teaching profession needs to be supported not undermined and importantly, education needs to be recognised as an investment, not a cost. We have to acknowledge that there is too much work expected of teachers, while the renumeration is too low, and it’s simply becoming worse with the politicisation of education.”

“10 years ago, New Zealand spent more on Education as a percentage of GDP than we do now, we simply can’t expect better results with less investment.”

“Urgent action is required now to address teacher supply and retention. That work needs to acknowledge, that as a profession, we have the solutions and are ready and willing to work with the Minister and the Ministry. What we don’t need are more top-down solutions that fail to address the real issues.” We need a New Zealand vision and a long-term strategy for our teaching workforce from ECE to Secondary, currently there isn’t one!

“Let’s work together to address the shortage of teachers in ECE and schools for the sake of our children, or if you need to view this from an economic standpoint, for the sake of our economy,” says Mrs Wolfe.

Notes:

• Total enrolments (minus Teacher Education Refresh Programmes) for Te Rito Maioha are up 19 % on 2024 figures. The Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) up 70%, the Bachelor of Teaching (ECE) 31% and Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Primary) up 89%.
• Te Rito Maioha is a bicultural ITE provider, committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Our focus is on ensuring a quality education so that our tauira (students) are classroom-ready using field-based learning and meeting the wellbeing needs of our tauira.
• 98% of our students recommend studying at Te Rito Maioha.

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