Monitoring Teacher Supply 2009

Teacher Appointments

In 2009 both primary and secondary principals were asked to state whether they had advertised for a permanent classroom teacher in the six months prior to the survey (July 2008 to January 2009), and if so, how many applicants were New Zealand trained teachers. This question was introduced in 2008 as a result of anecdotal reports that some schools were having difficulty recruiting qualified teachers who were familiar with the New Zealand curriculum and teaching in the New Zealand context.

Primary school principals answered this question with regard to permanent Scale A classroom teachers, while secondary school principals answered this question with regard to vacancies in the following subjects: Chemistry, English, Health and Physical Education, Te Reo Māori, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics, General Science and Technology.

Primary schools

A total of 1,129 primary principals indicated they had advertised for a permanent Scale A classroom teacher in the past six months. In 40 percent of these cases, there were more than 9 applications from New Zealand trained teachers. A further one-third (31%) of cases received between 4 and 8 applications from New Zealand trained teachers and one-quarter (26%) received between 1 and 3 applications from New Zealand trained teachers. Most primary schools with Scale A classroom positions made an appointment for the position (94%).

Figure 2: The number of New Zealand trained applicants applying for a permanent Scale A classroom teacher position at primary schools between July 2008 and January 2009ª

ª    n = 1,129 primary schools advertised for a permanent Scale A classroom teacher between July 2008 and January 2009

Secondary schools

A total of 310 secondary principals indicated they had advertised for a permanent position in at least one of the subjects listed in Table 8 in the past six months. The number of New Zealand trained teachers applying for these positions varied across the subjects. Vacancies in Chemistry, Te Reo Māori, Physics and Technology had lower numbers of New Zealand trained applicants (at least 10% of vacancies advertised in each of these subjects had no New Zealand trained applicants) compared with English, Health & P.E, Maths & Statistics and General Science. Appointments were more likely to be made for positions in Health & P.E (88%), English (83%) and were less likely to be made for positions in Te Reo Māori (64%) and Technology (76%).