Education Minister Erica Stanford. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Teachers unions have slammed the government's move to shrink the Teaching Council, replace the majority of its members with ministerial appointees, and remove its role in teacher training as a "blatant power grab".
Education Minister Erica Stanford announced on Monday the government was taking action to "lift the quality of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and restore trust and confidence in the governance of the education workforce".
All professional standard-setting functions for teaching education would be moved from the council to the Ministry of Education, and the government would urgently "reconstitute" the council, reversing the current model of seven elected members and six ministerial appointments to seven members appointed by the minister and six elected by teachers by removing the requirement for a teacher educator-elected representative, a change Stanford said would come into effect this month.
Next year, the council would be reduced from 13 members to between seven to nine members (with three elected by teachers) to "ensure stronger governance and professional capability", Stanford said.
In a statement, the minister pointed to two reports to underscore what she said were failures by the council in teaching education - the OECD's 2024 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) which found 62 percent of graduate teachers were not confident in teaching content from all subjects they taught, and a 2024 Education Review Office (ERO) report that said nearly two thirds of principals reported new teachers were unprepared.
But Post Primary Teachers Association Te Wehengarua president Chris Abercrombie said the minister was being "incredibly selective" with her use of data, ignoring the 67 percent of beginning teachers who were satisfied with their ITE programme
"If the minister is going to use TALIS data, she should also look at the TALIS data that says the biggest cause of stress for New Zealand teachers is government changes, that only 14 percent of teachers believe the government values them.
"We should also look at the fact that New Zealand teachers are the third most stressed in the world, work the second longest hours in the world. If we're going to look at the TALIS data, let's look at all of it, not just cherry pick it like this minister is doing."
Post Primary Teachers Association Te Wehengarua president Chris Abercrombie. Photo: Supplied
Abercrombie called the changes an attack on the professionalism and independence of teachers.
"Our professional body - the people that register us, that look after our code, our standards, our professionalism - is being overthrown by the government in a blatant power grab."
He said the separation between the sector and the government was critical.
"Teachers should be independent of the government, they shouldn't be worried that speaking out about their concerns should lead to their registration being under attack."
Arakura School principal and New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa governance group member Tute Mila said the moves were a "done deal", consistent with other changes the minister had pushed through without feedback or consultation.
"She's not interested in hearing what the sector has to say."
New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa governance group member Tute Mila. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Mila agreed there was room for improvement in ITE, but said wresting political control of the teaching council was not the solution.
Poor resourcing and learning support combined with complex societal issues meant beginning teachers were dealing with "extraordinary" situations, which had nothing to do with the Teaching Council.
The rationale for the "drastic measures" did not make sense, Mila said.
"When you look at the pattern of what the minister's trying to push and the fact the sector's not complying with what she wants, and the next thing you get this move to take control of the Teaching Council - that certainly looks like a power flex to me."
The minister abandoned a similar proposal to move many of the Teaching Council's functions under ministry control earlier this year following backlash from the sector.
The Teaching Council is currently under investigation by the Public Service Commission at Stanford's request after she received a complaint about its management of procurement and conflicts of interest.
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