Teacher shortage ‘at crisis point’
How bad is it!
Teacher shortages in secondary schools are at their highest since 2008, according to data compiled by the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA). In recent years, more than 3000 jobs were advertised, with data showing a steady increase in the number of vacancies from a 2013 low.
The PPTA describes the secondary teacher shortage as “crisis point”. “There are vacancies in many subject areas and in many geographical areas,” it says, “recruitment is in decline and schools are losing teachers”.
“Principals are considering the prospect of cancelling subjects for lack of trained and qualified secondary specialists.”
The solution to increase recruitment is a tricky, hard and almost impossible problem to solve. What is more possible and easier to achieve is increasing retention of the existing teacher workforce.
Those teachers on the brink of quitting due to exhaustion, long work hours, lack of resource, lack of support etc,could be turned around over night by the discovery and implementation of digital educational resources that alleviate many of those pain points teachers have with the profession.
Good, well designed and relevant digital resources that align with the NZ curriculum can reduce lesson planning time for teachers, improve the learning experience for both teachers and students, engage and excite learning in difficult students and provide the support and resources that teachers are crying out for.
Teachers still need time to assess and qualify the digital resources they allow into their classrooms but once a treasure is unearthed, it could become the holy grail that will retain teachers in the workforce.
Digital resources like www.afedsquad.co.nz are a good example of a quality resource that is aligned to the NZ curriculum with good pre designed lesson plans.
Read more of the original article by Patrice Dougan referring to the shortage of teachers
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11789902
