Schools are increasingly turning to unqualified teachers to plug staffing shortages, raising concerns about learning quality.

Ministry of Education figures released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act show 4079 people held Limited Authority to Teach (LAT) positions last year — a 33% increase on 2023.

Of those, 2338 are regular classroom teachers — up 42% on three years ago — working across 888 schools, meaning more than a third of state schools now employ at least one LAT teacher.

The other 1741 are working in day relief roles.

The ministry says some principals and senior leaders are working in LAT roles, but the numbers are too small to release without risking their identification.

A LAT allows people without formal teaching qualifications to take classes in specific situations, often to fill staffing gaps.

The Teaching Council approves applications, and has extended the “skills that are in short supply” LAT from one year to three years for Priority Staffing Schools.

The LAT increase comes as staffing pressures continue to hit secondary schools in particular. Ministry of Education data shows a surplus of 530 primary teachers this year, but a shortfall of 710 in secondary - worsening on last year.

Newstalk ZB previously reported schools started the year hundreds of teachers short.

Post Primary Teachers’ Association president Chris Abercrombie says the growing number of LATs is concerning.
“Nothing is more important than students having a trained and qualified specialist teacher in front of them - and that’s not always happening,” he said.

He says LAT teachers are often covering subjects like technology, te reo Māori and science, sometimes without formal training.

“They may be subject experts, but they don’t necessarily have the skills or training to teach it,” he said.

“This isn’t a new thing — we’ve had shortages in those areas for a long time. It’s been successive governments that have failed to address it.”

Abercrombie said LAT teachers work hard, but may only be “a few pages ahead of students” when teaching.

“So it’s a real concern that students aren’t getting that in-depth specialist knowledge and skill sets of multiple learning, techniques.”

Education Minister Erica Stanford said teacher supply is improving.

She says projections show a surplus of 530 primary teachers this year, growing to 1,350 by 2028, while the secondary shortfall is expected to narrow.

“Schools decide whether to employ Limited Authority to Teach holders. Many LAT holders go on to become fully qualified teachers,” she said.

Stanford says LATs are often subject-matter experts and the Government has invested in growing the workforce, with record teacher numbers and a rise in trainees.

But the Principals’ Federation says LATs remain essential to keeping classrooms running.

“We are struggling to find teachers in certain areas of Aotearoa, that we need to be employing limited authority to teach teachers,” President Jason Miles said.

He said LAT teachers require close mentoring, placing extra pressure on senior staff and experienced teachers.

Miles said there are pathways for LAT teachers to move into full registration, and the Government’s working to strengthen those, particularly in isolated and hard-to-staff areas.

“But it is a challenge for LATs to be teaching in the class and training at the same time. So it is pretty demanding on them and on the schools who are also providing that support.”

He said the long-term solution must be rebuilding the qualified teacher workforce.

“Our strong preference would be to see a reduction in LATs and increase of New Zealand trained and registered teachers.”

Abercrombie agrees more needs to be done to support people into full registration.

“We need that on steroids — we need all of our teacher training strengthened,” he said.

“We need to break down every single barrier to gaining teaching qualifications.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education, social issues and general news. She joined Newstalk ZB in 2023 after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.