17 July
Immediate release

Scotland could provide answers for NZ Teachers Council reform - NZEI

New Zealand should look at the experiences of countries such as Scotland when it comes to reviewing the NZ Teachers Council, NZEI Te Riu Roa President Ian Leckie says.

The Government has just announced that the NZ Teachers Council, a body almost 100% self-funded by teachers to oversee the registration and quality of teachers, is under review.

Mr Leckie says it’s imperative that any changes to the Council strengthen its position as an independent professional body.

“We strongly believe that the Council should be independent of government and in a strong position to oversee professional standards in teaching. It should operate in a way that fully includes stakeholders and be empowered to speak authoritatively and independently, as other professional bodies such as the Law Society do.”

Mr Leckie says the visit to New Zealand by the Chief Executive of the General Teaching Council of Scotland, Anthony Finn, this week is very timely.

Mr Finn will speak at a Teachers Council Forum in Wellington tomorrow (Friday) about the experiences of the GTC Scotland becoming the world’s first totally independent teachers’ professional body earlier this year.

“Scotland has a strongly independent and highly successful teaching council and we believe that is a model that could be adopted in this country.”

He said NZEI was disappointed the Government’s review panel did not include representation from key stakeholders such as national principal or teacher organisations and did not include current practitioners from the early childhood education or primary sectors.

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