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Speaker 1: We've got new data route this morning showing that teacher

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Speaker 1: shortages are getting worse as kids prepare to go back

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Speaker 1: to the classroom. Four hundred and forty five roles are

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Speaker 1: currently vacant nationwide. That is up twelve percent on last year.

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Speaker 1: Three quarters of those gaps are in the North Island

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Speaker 1: and one hundred and twenty five of them are in

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Speaker 1: Auckland alone. So Secondary Principals Council Chair is Steve mccrekan

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Speaker 1: and Steve joins me. Now, good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Sir, Good morning Andrew.

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Speaker 1: Why is it still bad?

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Speaker 2: Well, it's a very good question. Actually, I think teaching

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Speaker 2: is a wonderful profession obviously, However, I don't think that's

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Speaker 2: probably perceived by the public. And there's a whole range

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Speaker 2: of things going on and the teaching and education sector,

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Speaker 2: but there's possibly not that enticing at this point in time.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, with these vacancies, we make sure that things

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Speaker 2: happen and that kids get the best possible education we can.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we have an aging and growing population. We are

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Speaker 1: losing teachers to retirement. We need a new generation coming.

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Speaker 2: I think there's definite work in the pipeline, and there's

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Speaker 2: tournaments to be very active in the initial teacher education

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Speaker 2: sector and it's probably still just a couple of years.

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Speaker 1: Away though we drew all right, why is the North

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Speaker 1: Island so hard hit?

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Speaker 2: Well, there's probably a couple of things there, I think.

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Speaker 2: I think it's obviously population there, but also it's an

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Speaker 2: interesting demographic and particularly in the Auckland sector where there's

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Speaker 2: some really challenging situations in schools and in education right now.

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Speaker 2: Like what, Well, it's a range of things. And if

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Speaker 2: you look at socioeconomic areas and yeah, colleagues in the

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Speaker 2: South Auckland, Yeah, they have different challenges to those in

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Speaker 2: other areas of Auckland and other areas of the country.

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Speaker 1: So teachers don't want to go to South Auckland.

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Speaker 2: No, that's not the case at all. There's some amazing

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Speaker 2: teachers in all parts of our country. But I think

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Speaker 2: that there's different challenges in each sector as well.

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Speaker 1: Are there particular subjects that are worst hit?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? By the looks at the it looks like maths

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Speaker 2: and physics continue to remain a challenging area. But I

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Speaker 2: think that that's betting a spread across nearly every subject

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Speaker 2: that we've experienced. How is school was going to cope

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Speaker 2: this year then, Look, schools are remarketable places. Is everyone

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Speaker 2: on the radio understands and knows, and teachers and school

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Speaker 2: leaders across the country make things work and putting extra

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Speaker 2: resource where possible and pulling manage responsibilities away just to

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Speaker 2: enable teachers to be in front of learners as the

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Speaker 2: best possible outcome, and school leaders and that will be

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Speaker 2: working right now to make sure that things happen for

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Speaker 2: their kids when there live at school come day one.

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Speaker 1: If they make it work, should we be worried still?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, because that means that there are other things

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Speaker 2: that aren't happening. And this year, I'm sure that you're

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Speaker 2: aware that there's large curriculum reform and things that needs

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Speaker 2: to happen, and make sure that to make sure that

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Speaker 2: that happens, we need to have the best possible people

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Speaker 2: in front of our kids in front of our school.

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Speaker 1: Is changing the curriculum and changing in CEA making this worse.

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Speaker 2: I think it's having an impact, and ye there's an

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Speaker 2: additional teacher workload and pressure on there. In the long run,

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Speaker 2: it's probably going to be a better outcome for our

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Speaker 2: young people. However, there's a put a short term pain

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Speaker 2: we need to get through in the interim.

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Speaker 1: Steve, thanks for waking up early for me. Steve mccrackett

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Speaker 1: Secondary Principles Council Chaired For more from Early Edition with

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Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge.

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Speaker 2: Listen live to News Talks at BE from five am weekdays,

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Speaker 2: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio