The Teach First NZ scheme, a graduate development programme, will be funded for another three years.
Education minister Hekia Parata believes the Teach First NZ pilot has been “very effective in attracting high-achieving graduates into teaching.”
Parata said that the programme will be extended for the next three years, “This means there will be up to 50 newly trained teachers from this programme by the end of 2018.”
The programme is now highly sought after by prospective teachers, the 2016 programme received 300 applications for just 20 spaces.
Teach First NZ are partnered with the Ministry of Education, and are a field-based “teacher education programme” developed by the University of Auckland and the Teach First NZ Trust. They offer information on teacher training, scholarships, finding jobs, and information for overseas teachers wanting to teach in New Zealand.
Following an intensive training programme, graduates are placed into low-decile schools where they receive on-the-job training for two years.
The decision to extend the scheme comes after legal action from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA).
The scheme was found to be breaking the law by placing graduates into teaching positions that had not been publicly advertised.
It was agreed that all Teach First NZ teachers would need to apply for roles alongside other graduates.