Technology music and art on the way out

24 May 2012

Technology music and art on the way out

Intermediate schools around the country are reeling at how the new teacher-student ratios will hit them following the government’s decision to increase class sizes.

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Ian Leckie says intermediate schools will be particularly hard hit because they will lose the extra staffing they currently get for technology subjects.

“It will mean that specialist teachers of subjects such as ICT, textiles, hard and soft materials, art, and music may have to go and the teaching of these subjects fall back on the responsibility of the classroom teacher.

He says the Minister’s being deceitful when she talks of lowering teacher student ratios for year 7 and 8 students.

“In fact the opposite is happening. Those schools will be losing teachers. They’ve been left utterly bewildered at how they are going to teach the curriculum under the new regime. It is very serious for those schools.”

Manurewa Intermediate school Principal Iain Taylor says he will have to shave 5.25 teachers from his school of 810 pupils.

“I have no idea how we’re going to do that. If we want to keep our specialist technnology staff we’ll be looking at class sizes of 36-37.”

“It makes a complete joke of the government’s rhetoric about raising student achievement,“ Mr Taylor says. “How are we going to do that? Where’s the innovation going to come from?”

Ian Leckie says the changes won’t just affect intermediate schools. They’ll be felt by all schools with year 7 and 8 students.

“Under the current system primary schools which have year 7 and 8 students have “service agreements” with intermediate schools. This enables them to send their students to technology centres – usually based at nearby intermediate schools. It is unlikely that those schools will be able to continue to provide that service.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media