Student teachers are calling for paid placements as financial pressures force many to rely on family support and student loans to survive their training.
To graduate, student teacher Hannah McAdie must complete 14 weeks of full-time placement and 14.4 weeks of part-time placement at two North Wellington schools. By the time she completes her Master of Teaching and Learning (Primary) at Victoria University of Wellington this December, she will have done 6.5 months of unpaid work – roughly 70% of a school year.
“I am only able to live off the student loan at the moment; it’s the only government support I am able to get,” McAdie says. “At just over $300 per week, that’s not enough when you’ve got living costs such as rent, power, wifi, transport, and food. It has created a huge financial burden.”
Despite the strain, she remains dedicated to the profession. “I really look forward to becoming a primary school teacher and to share that love of learning with the children and to grow as a teacher.”
Rose Schneehagen, a first year Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Chidhood student at Victoria University, warns that the financial burden of unpaid placements is exacerbating challenges for Māori and Pasifika students.
“We need greater diversity and experience to better serve our communities. But our profession is becoming more short-staffed and less diverse because of barriers such as unpaid placements,” she says.
The issue is widespread, affecting both school-leavers and career-changers. Jess Graham graduated last year from the University of Waikato’s distance programme and now teaches at Avon School in Taranaki. To stay afloat during her distance studies, she relied on a mix of part-time or full-time work alongside family support.
“Not only was there the academic stress of all the assignments but also the financial stress. Can I make both ends meet? Do I have enough petrol to even get to school?” Graham says.
Graham entered teaching as a second career after six years in the public sector.
“Many of the people who I was studying with are not people fresh out of high school; they were mothers, fathers, people in different stages of life who are used to working and having a stable income and are now having to make that sacrifice,” Graham says.
“I was in an easier position because I’m a single woman. But there were other students who had kids to feed, had mortgages to pay, and I don’t know how they did it.”
Anthony Stretch, a former teacher aide, is also changing careers. He is in the first year of a three-year Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) at EIT. Despite his commitment, the financial reality made him hesitate, requiring extensive discussions with his family.
“It is a massive challenge, financially. I’m having to pull away from full-time work to do three years of study,” Stretch says. “This is a profession that you cannot train on theory, you cannot do it on papers alone, you have to be in a classroom. While you are in the classroom, you are not just a student observing and studying. You are working, you are teaching, and you are there for the students.”
Advocates say paying student teachers during their practical training placements is essential for recruitment and retention, especially amid reports of qualified teachers moving overseas and the scrapping of the fees-free university scheme.
“Paid placements have to be recognised as an investment in retaining future nurses, teachers, doctors, midwives, and social workers,” Schneehagen says. “Supporting students now will help reduce dropout rates and address long-term workforce shortages in essential public service sectors.”
“It doesn’t make sense to place someone in a kura and not pay them for their time. It shows respect for future teachers to pay them for their time,” Graham says.
McAdie agrees, noting that other sectors receive compensation during training.
“I would love to see the Government support teachers from the beginning of our careers. Police officers, for example, get paid to train. But teachers, we are doing all this hard mahi in the community, we are helping raise children, but we are not supported at all.”