Principals praise government investment in teacher training

“Principals welcome today’s announcement by the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, that he will invest more in teacher training, and in training te reo Māori teachers,” said Whetu Cormick, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF).

“To have a sustainable workforce long-term we need to increase the number of New Zealand graduates, so that we are not relying on overseas teachers to fill shortages in the future,” he said.

The Federation is also delighted that the Minister has announced funding support to attract more te reo Māori speakers into teacher training.

“The Federation has long aspired to having more teachers, fluent in te reo Māori, in our schools and today’s announcement brings us closer to achieving that aspiration,” said Cormick.

We look forward to partnering with training providers in the future to ensure that we produce high quality teacher graduates who have the right mix of academic and practical experience and can enter our schools ready to teach,” he said.

“We know that more investment is required if we are to fully support and retain our teaching workforce and make our profession an attractive option for young school graduates in the future,” he said, “but today’s move is a great first step.”