Government spending $21.7m to expand teacher training in classrooms

The government's striving to curb persistent teacher shortages by spending more than $20 million to expand a classroom-based training scheme.

The $21.7 million over five years will also bolster a fund which keeps teachers working at schools that are hard to staff.

Education Minister Erica Stanford said the School Onsite Training Programme - which allows trainee teachers to spend up to three days a week in classrooms while completing their formal study - has grown from 147 places in 2024 to 528 places in 2026.

The expansion will allow for 660 places next year and 704 training places every year from 2028.

"We have been able to use onsite teacher training to deliberately target trainee teachers to where they are needed most," Stanford said.

"We opened the programme to primary teacher training in 2025 in response to shortages across both primary and secondary schools. Now that workforce data is beginning to show a small oversupply of primary teachers, we are weighting more of the available places towards secondary teacher training."

In future, the government would also be able to target places towards secondary subjects suffering shortages, she said.

"We have also targeted places to rural and isolated communities by enabling providers to offer online programmes, allowing people to train as teachers while remaining in the communities where they are needed," she said.

In 2027, participants would receive a stipend of $20,660 to help cover course fees and living costs.

An Education Review Office report found only one in five principals considered new teacher graduates ready for the classroom, Stanford said.

"Giving trainee teachers more time in schools, supported by experienced teachers, helps them develop the practical skills and confidence they need from day one."

The money will also fund an extra 50 places in the Teacher Bonding Scheme, increasing the 2026/27 cohort from 185 to 235.

The scheme pays eligible teachers $40,000 over five years to stay working at schools that struggle with staffing.

Funding for the classroom training scheme was reprioritised from the Overseas Relocation Grant, which reimbursed early childhood teachers relocating to New Zealand.

Demand for the grant had fallen substantially, the government said, so it reduced the budget and changed the eligibility criteria.

The money for the Teacher Bonding Scheme was reprioritised from leftover funding in the Voluntary Bonding Scheme, which closed to new entrants last year.