UK teacher shortage hits New Zealand

UK teaching agencies have been recruiting in Auckland

The teacher shortage in England and Wales is having an impact on the other side of the globe, as efforts to recruit staff from New Zealand is causing a shortage there too.

For many years there has been a flow of teachers from New Zealand and Australia working in schools in England and Wales, particularly in London.

But the deepening problems in finding staff has meant that supply agencies have been recruiting even harder overseas.

Now there are reports that the recruitment campaign has been so successful that it has left schools in New Zealand with their own difficulties in finding enough teachers.

Shortage subjects

And that the Secondary Principals' Association was now warning that schools could face a teacher shortage.

As with the recruitment problems in England and Wales, there are subjects for which it is particularly difficult to find staff, including maths and information technology.

And there are concerns in New Zealand that it is particularly sought-after teachers such as these who are being lured to London.

The depedence on overseas teachers in many London schools was emphasised by a UK teachers' union on Monday.

"London teaching services have been kept afloat by thousands of young supply teachers coming from Australia, New Zealand and latterly South Africa," said Nigel de Gruchy, leader of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers.