Nod for foreign teachers

An influx of foreign teachers would continue and spread into the early-childcare sector under National Party policies announced at a conference in Christchurch at the weekend.

National's spokeswoman for early childhood education (ECE), Paula Bennett, announced the party's policy at the New Zealand Childcare Association (NZCA) conference which ended yesterday.

Part of the policy is a plan to fast-track qualified foreign ECE teachers into the job with six weeks of intensive training on the national curriculum, called Te Whariki.

"It just doesn't make sense that we make it difficult for these professionals to teach under-fives in New Zealand," Bennett told the conference.

"If they already know how to teach and how those little brains are wired, then the only thing missing is learning Te Whariki and, in some cases, New Zealand culture."

The country was struggling with a critical shortage of ECE teachers and opening the industry to foreign teachers was a common-sense solution, Bennett said.

A report from the Post-Primary Teachers' Association this month showed the number of New Zealand-trained applicants at secondary schools was dropping dramatically. Overseas trained teachers were appointed to permanent positions at 43 per cent of schools, which was nearly three times the proportion in 1998. The average number of foreign appointments at secondary schools had increased five times between 1998 and 2008.

Delegates at the conference met National's plan to increase the number of foreign teachers in ECE with alarm.

"I cannot comprehend how anybody could think that teachers could do that and then be able to teach adequately here in Aotearoa," NZCA president Rosina Merry said.

"That, to me, absolutely insults our curriculum and I find that one of the most alarming aspects of what you have told us today," she said to Bennett.

"If we respond under duress because of shortage, then we will water down our profession."

Merry criticised the proposed six-week training for foreign teachers.

Bennett said six weeks of intensive learning was deliberate to avoid foreign-teacher training becoming too drawn-out.

"I purposely put in six weeks, to be honest with you, because I felt that it would be, if I handed it to the NZQA or to the ministry, or something like that, then it would get longer and longer and longer," Bennett said.

"It's a recognition of the shortages that are there now."

National's plan to address the supply problem of teachers in ECE also included dropping a government requirement for all teachers at ECE centres for under two-year-olds to be fully qualified by 2012. The current standard for 50 per cent of teachers to be qualified would remain under National.

NZCA chief executive Nancy Bell said under-two enrolments were the fastest-growing age group. They were the most vulnerable and needed the best qualified teachers.

- © Fairfax NZ News