Paula Bennett MP
National Party Associate Education Spokeswoman

2 December 2007

Teachers’ council in dark over failed teachers

News that the Teachers’ Council has no idea how many graduate teachers have been denied registration should be ringing alarm bells, says National’s Associate Education spokeswoman, Paula Bennett.

In answer to a written question on how many teacher graduates have been denied registration by the Teachers’ Council since 2005, Minister Chris Carter said: ‘Apart from those who do not meet the Teachers’ Council standard for police vets, the Teachers’ Council cannot easily identify the number of teacher graduates who have been denied provisional registration.’

“The Minister is either admitting the Teachers’ Council is not doing its job by keeping track of registrations, or admitting that all graduates are fit to go into a classroom as long as they pass a police check.

“If it’s the latter, we should all be concerned that there is no assessment of the quality of that teacher’s training. There have been issues identified with initial teacher training and the Teachers’ Council should be the first to identify them.

“We know there is a massive shortage of teachers, particularly in Auckland, but this is no reason to let standards slip by turning a blind eye to graduates who don’t come up to scratch.”

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