Student teachers ‘poorly paid’

Press, 6 February 1986, Page 7

Student teachers ‘poorly paid’

The Christchurch Teachers’ College is short of 65 post-primary trainees this year. However, the director of secondary programmes, Mr Reg Graham, said the shortfall had little to do with the industrial dispute between

secondary teachers and the Government. Most trainees had applied before the dispute began, and before large wage increases were given to other members of the State service, Mr Graham said. The shortage reflected

the older age of secondary trainees, and the low wage paid during the oneyear course, he said. Over the last two years secondary trainees were recruited from a wider age range. The average age" was now 28. Most people at that age had outside commitments, and could not survive for even one year on the “miserable” Tertiary Study Grant, Mr Graham said. The grant is set at $37 a week for the length of the academic year with an accommodation grant of $35 a week, and a hardship grant of up to $54. The eligibility criteria for the hardship grant were not wide enough, Mr Graham said. The college had expected an intake of about 350 students this year. While the final figure was not yet known, it was estimated about 285. Auckland Teachers’ College faced a similar shortfall. Unlike previous years, the shortage was not

mainly in science, mathematics and technical subjects, Mr Graham said. This year it covered every area. While the number was up on last year’s intake of 243, Mr Graham said this was not a significant increase. On Monday the Prime Minister, Mr Lange, said recruitment was up “quite significantly” on last year. This year Christchurch and Auckland colleges, together with several small outposts in other areas, would be able to produce about 600 graduates, Mr Graham said. While the number of positions available at the end of the year was not known, last year there were more than 1000. The situation could be worsened if teachers were not satisfied with the settlement of their pay dispute, Mr Graham said. That situation could result in many teachers leaving the job, but not enough new graduates to replace them. A return to a liveable wage for teacher trainees

was the only solution to the problem, Mr Graham said. “I can’t see many alternatives to that. Because of the age (of trainees) you can’t do much else.”