- Hon Erica Stanford
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.
"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," Education Minister Erica 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. 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."
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."
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.
