Teacher trouble

Mana (Auckland), Volume 2, Issue 1, 6 April 1978, Page 6

Teacher trouble

Pacific Island teachers studying at the Wellington Teachers’ College have expressed concern at the Wellington Education Board's possible suspension of a supplementary retraining scheme for their people. The suggestion was contained in a report to the board last week by its recruitment officer (Mr Walter Gordon), who likened the recruitment of Maori and Polynesian teacher trainees to “lockingthe stable doorafterthe horse has bolted.” but did not give the reason behind his thoughts on Pacific Islanders. The Maori Affairs secretary (Mr Kara Puketapu) said the apparent low number of Maori and Polynesian teacher-trainee applicants confirmed the need for the department’s new emphasis on inspiring its young people to greater heights.

Mr Teariki Tautua, on behalf of Pacific Island students at Wellington Teachers’ College said:

‘‘lf New Zealand wishes to maintain a multicultural society where new and different groups can co-exist, knowledge and sympathetic understanding of these differences must be developed.”

“Schemes such as the Pacific Islands teachers’ retraining scheme which aid this understanding on many levels must be strengthened and should not be abolished.”