PPTA Welcomes Government Decision To Pay Teachers’ Practising Fees

PPTA Te Wehengarua welcomes wholeheartedly the Government’s decision, announced today, to pay teachers’ professional practising fees, says Chris Abercrombie.

“The Government’s decision to pay our Teaching Council fees indicates that it realises it needs to do everything it can to keep teachers in the profession in the midst of a chronic secondary teacher shortage. Paying teachers’ Teaching Council fees lets teachers know their professional expertise is valued and provides an incentive to stay in the job.

“Teaching is an extremely rewarding and amazing profession; it is also an increasingly challenging and demanding one, so we need to everything possible to keep all of our experienced and skilled teachers in the workforce. Paying their Teaching Council fees is a step in the right direction.”

Chris Abercrombie said the decision was also important in terms of keeping beginning and new teachers in the profession. “Teachers in their first few years of teaching are among the highest number of teachers who are leaving either for better paid work in Australia or for jobs with a reasonable work / life balance here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Teaching Council fees are a significant expense when you’re in your first few years in the job, so this decision will encourage some of these teachers to stay.

“The decision announced today is a positive step. PPTA Te Wehengarua looks forward to working with the Government on other steps to attract graduates into secondary teaching and keep our highly experienced and skilled teachers in the workforce. These include making teachers’ salaries more attractive and making the job more manageable.”

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