Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

According to an article in the NZ Herald this morning, fewer people want to be teachers.    Teacher education is still a popular field of study, but both Canterbury and Otago Universities have seen a decline in teaching student enrolments over the past four years.  Provisional data shows Canterbury has 964 students enrolled in a course in 2025, down from 1281 four years ago.  Otago has followed a similar trend, with student numbers dropping from 620 to 495 in the same period.  National Polytech, Te Pukenga, has seen the lowest number of first year teaching students since it formed in 2020.  It’s not the best news when we are facing a teacher shortage is it? PPTA President Chris Abercrombie said the downward trend is extremely worrying.  I’m not surprised by this trajectory.   All we seem to hear about are issues around pay, conditions, and the challenge of changes to the curriculum.   And then there are the parents who don’t have the time to support their children