There are close to 600 teacher vacancies across the country as the halfway point of the school year approaches, with some rural schools regularly having to ask students to stay home.
However, one Northland high school has solved their problem by employing a third of its teaching staff from overseas.
Last month, the Government began fast tracking residency for foreign teachers and offering relocation grants to make the move here more attractive.
Kaitaia College principal Louise Anaru said the school has been understaffed for the last three years.
“Last year, we were down over 20 teachers which meant that we needed to combine classes, teach in the hall, for example, to make sure we could remain open.”
She said the visa process is now “a lot more seamless and quicker and residency progress is faster”.
“We’re able to get high-quality overseas teacher applicants, we have the very best maths [and] science teachers, and that’s been a big change for Kaitaia College.”
New math teacher Christian De Vera said he loves living in the Northland region and enjoys the “relaxed” culture.
“I heard that New Zealand has a lot of privileges and benefits, that’s why we planned last year to come here and have residency.”
New science teacher Monika Ragini said it has been good learning about the Māori culture.
“I would love to learn about the Māori language because we have about 70% of Māori students here, so I would love to take a course in future.”
