The Government is taking action to lift the quality of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and restore trust and confidence in the governance of the education workforce, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.
“We are firmly committed to backing teachers to succeed in the classroom. Multiple reports show initial teacher education is not doing that. It’s letting teachers and students down,” Stanford says.
“The latest report from the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 shows 62 per cent of graduate teachers were not confident in teaching content of all subjects they teach. And 54 per cent weren’t confident in pedagogical approaches on how to teach them. Last year, the Education Review Office (ERO) found nearly two thirds of principals report their new teachers are unprepared.
“The Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand oversees setting teacher standards and setting requirements for teacher training. This isn’t working. We’re progressing legislative changes to ensure stronger oversight and clearer policy direction in ITE. Teachers deserve better,” Stanford says.
All professional standard setting functions for ITE and the teaching workforce will be moved from the Council to the Ministry of Education.
The council’s current requirements to provide direction for teachers, enhance the status of the profession, promote best practice, will also be removed from legislation as they sit with existing agencies.
The changes will come into force through legislation, to be progressed in mid-2026.
“With multiple investigations underway into the Teaching Council, we’re responding urgently by reconstituting the board so we can ensure good governance and better ensure the council acts in the sector’s best interests. The teaching workforce deserves a regulator that they can trust,” Stanford says.
This involves:
- Immediately providing for seven ministerially-appointed members and six elected members, removing the requirement for a teacher educator-elected representative.
- In future, reducing its size from 13 members to between seven and nine members to ensure stronger governance and professional capability. The requirement for representative electives will remain with one from each of the early childhood education sector, the primary education sector, and the secondary education sector.
The first proposal is a small addition to the Education and Training Amendment Bill (No.2) currently before Parliament and is expected to come into effect in November 2025. The second step is expected to be progressed in 2026. The proposed changes bring the Teaching Council’s governance model in line with other regulatory bodies, such as the Nursing Council of New Zealand.
The Teaching Council will continue to be the independent professional body for teachers. Its remit will cover registration and certification, teacher education quality assurance, and conduct, competence and discipline. Its quality assurance powers over teacher education providers will also be boosted.
Education leaders have signed an open letter to Stanford, strongly opposing her move to gut the independence and core functions of the Teaching Council.
Organisations signing the letter include NZEI Te Riu Roa, PPTA Te Wehengarua, NZ Principals Federation, New Zealand Area Schools Association, Te Akatea, Catholic Principals Association, Pasifika Principals Association, Aotearoa Educators Collective, Montessori Aotearoa NZ, Kindergartens Aotearoa and the Tertiary Educators Association of NZ (TEFANZ).
Speaking on behalf of letter signatories, NZ Principals Federation President Leanne Otene says that educators across the motu are dismayed at the political interference in their independent professional body.
“This really is over-reach by the minister. Last year she backed off removing initial teacher education from the council after strong opposition from the sector. Now she is not only doing that but also removing the voice of teachers from shaping our own professional standards and codes. The codes are there to protect students and uphold quality in the profession.”
Otene says the Teaching Council standards include strong commitments to excellence, equity and to Te Tiriti so that teachers must ensure the needs of all students are met.
“These standards give teachers the responsibility to put children’s learning first, and the right to speak out on important ethical and professional issues. These standards shouldn’t be subject to direct political interference by ministers of the day.
“Our students are the ones who will suffer – this is what this change means and why we oppose it. Who will be speaking for ākonga?”
The open letter says that no evidence has been provided about how the ministry could do a better job than the Teaching Council to improve initial teacher education.
It states: “The ministry has neither the capability, nor does it have the confidence of the profession to take on this role.”
ENDS
