New Zealand Principals' Federation
Media Release 29 February 2012 – for immediate release
Attention: Education and Political Reporters

Principals’ Federation Calls for Leadership in Ministerial Inquiry

‘The latest news that a convicted sex offender has been employed in schools allegedly through fraudulent means is unacceptable,’ said Paul Drummond, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation today.

‘There are 98,000 law abiding, dedicated teachers in our system in whom our parents and communities can rightly expect to have full confidence and trust. One miscreant in our schools is too many for us. It unfairly taints our highly regarded profession,’ said Drummond

‘In the main, our Teachers’ Council structures, school processes and procedures for recruiting and appointing teachers are very robust and serve us well. Every teacher appointment requires a registration check and no teacher has their registration accepted without a full Police check. What we have here is an individual who has allegedly provided false identification and gone to considerable lengths to deceive in order to gain a position in schools,’ he said.

Drummond welcomes the Ministerial Inquiry into the incident and calls for the Inquiry to be broadened to question how an offender, who reportedly should have been under parole type conditions, could have committed further crime.

‘It would seem there are multiple factors involved in this individual case,’ said Drummond, ‘and we expect that the Minister will show leadership and take them all into account in her Inquiry,’ he said.

ENDS

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