Stories by John Gerritsen
News
Principals seek easing in NCEA rules as students disengage, get depressed
Secondary school principals have united to make an unprecedented call for help from the government.
Relief teachers 'like unicorns' - Principals see no respite from staff shortages
Schools reopen for the third term today and principals are worried staff shortages and winter illnesses will be every bit as bad as last term.
High failure rate revealed in small trial-run of new literacy, numeracy tests
The New Zealand Initiative has revealed high failure rates in a small-scale trial-run of critical new NCEA tests.
'It's ridiculous' - Anger over Māori children being zoned out of iwi or hapū land
Some Māori educators want an overhaul of school zoning rules, saying the system ignored local iwi connections to the land that schools were built on.
Schools prepare to turn away students out of enrolment zones
Some schools are coming to terms with the effects of a push to introduce more school enrolment zones and amend existing ones.
'Eventually those kids will come back': Principals want to avoid teacher layoffs
Principals are appealing to the Ministry of Education to maintain school staffing levels after mid-year roll counts showed some have lost a lot of students.
Schools reluctant to share new numbers replacing decile system
Some principals are wary of revealing the new equity index numbers that are replacing decile numbers as the measure of socio-economic disadvantage in their schools.
Schools worry winter illnesses and Covid-19 may hit even harder next term
Schools close for holidays at the end of the week and principals are worried that severe disruption from winter illnesses and Covid-19 will be even worse when they reopen.
'It's a horrific industry to be in' - Teachers, advocates warn of bullying in ECE centres
Teachers at early childhood centres say they have been sworn at, abused in front of children and some have felt suicidal.
'A giant leap backwards': Principals hand out low marks for new tests
Year 10 students have been trialling new high-stakes literacy and numeracy tests in schools this week.
'It's been a challenge to keep students coming back to school'
Schools in Northland and Auckland are tackling truancy by hiring people to knock on doors and talk directly with families.
Relief teachers breaking budgets as twice as many teachers off sick
Figures show teachers have claimed more than 183,000 sick days so far this year, nearly twice as many as at the same time in 2019 - at some schools it is breaking the bank.
Teacher hiring 'a nightmare' with not enough new graduates, overseas staff
Teachers were starting to leave their jobs to go overseas but the traditional supply of foreign teachers had not yet resumed, principals told RNZ.
Finders' fees, relocation grants among best ways to attract new teachers
An independent review shows efforts to recruit thousands of teachers have cost an average of nearly $10,000 per teacher.
Class cancelled: Staff absences 'through the roof' at schools
Some schools are rostering particular year levels home or asking families to keep children away because they don't have enough teachers on site.
Gaps in learning, behavioural issues worsening as students struggle in pandemic - teachers
Principals and teachers warn they are seeing worse behaviour and achievement after two-and-a-half-years of pandemic disruption.
'It feels unsafe': Teachers say health at risk with low mask use by students
Teachers who contacted RNZ to comment on a story about high rates of Covid-19 infection among school staff said too many students were not wearing face masks. Audio
Teachers may be catching Covid-19 at higher rate than others - data analyst
Schools notified the Education Ministry of about 1000 cases among teaching staff in each of the past two weeks.
Primary principals call for compulsory mask wearing as winter approaches
Some primary school principals want a return to compulsory face mask-wearing as they head into the colder months.
Private polytechnics in jeopardy after changes to tertiary education funding
Big changes to funding for tertiary certificates and diplomas are being labelled unfair and short-sighted.
Report shows doubts about national polytechnic, Te Pūkenga
A report shows independent reviewers had serious doubts about the future of the new national polytechnic and workplace training provider, Te Pūkenga.
Budget's 2022: Death-knell for the school decile system
The government's Budget rings a multi-million-dollar death-knell for the much-maligned school decile system.
'It's not for everybody now': No quick recovery in foreign student enrolments, agents warn
Education agents say this country's handling of the pandemic was not the drawcard the government expected and changes to post-study work rights would hit the Indian market hard.
Polytechnic enrolments fall to 2020 levels
The spike in polytechnic enrolments seen last year has collapsed, leaving the institutes with about the same number of enrolments as in 2020.
Hipkins wants to diversify countries international students come from
It's time to rebuild the devastated foreign student industry, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins says - but it needs to diversify too.