Mallard's Inattention Causes Teacher Shortage Crisis
Friday 25 Jan 2002 Donna Awatere Huata Press Releases -- Education
The teacher shortage crisis is a result of Education Minister Trevor Mallard not paying attention to his portfolio, ACT
Education Spokesman Donna Awatere Huata said today.
"Jumps in school rolls don't just happen. We've known about this `population blip' for the past five years. Mr Mallard
has known since he became Minister. A good education minister would plan for these changes instead of sticking his head
in the sand.
"Mr Mallard denies there is a crisis, yet he's not coming clean with what's really going on. He talks about teacher
vacancies being `manageable' and `comparable to other years', yet hasn't produced an iota of evidence that either is the
case. Mr Mallard's flimsy excuses and spin don't change the fact that schools are starting the year short of teachers.
"Mr Mallard only even acknowledged that there is a problem because Parliamentary Questions I asked at the end of last
year highlighted the imminent shortage.
"Kids are set to receive below-standard teaching.
"Either Mr Mallard is trying to save money by skimping on sorely-needed teachers, or he has bungled staffing
projections. In either case, the only solution is for Mr Mallard to fill the gaps as soon as possible - these kids
aren't going to go away," Mrs Awatere Huata said.
For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at
act@parliament.govt.nz.