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AN ADDITIONAL $9 million of funding over the next three years to increase the number of secondary teachers in schools, has been announced.
"The new funding provides subsidies for student teachers specialising in English and chemistry. It will also help graduate teachers who can't get teaching jobs in their local regions, to move into teaching positions in other areas of high demand, such as Auckland," Minister of Education, Mr Trevor Mallard said.
The extra funding extends the Secondary Subject Trainee Allowance (SSTA), introduced last year, to include the two new subjects.
The five subjects initially targeted and still available for the allowance are maths, physics, computing, Maori and physical education.
"The allowances have been a huge success. They're worth up to $10,000 each and make a significant contribution to the cost of training as a secondary teacher. As a result, we've increased the number of student teachers in the five original target subjects by 51 percent this year," Mr Mallard said.
Population changes will see a big increase in the number of pupils moving from primary to secondary school next year.
The government recently announced an extra 373 Full Time Teacher Equivalents will also be provided to secondary schools for next year, on top of teacher entitlements due to roll growth.
Most secondary teacher graduates gain teaching positions shortly after graduating, he said.
Secondary teachers have also had a significant pay increase, which means the starting salary for a new secondary teacher from July 2003 is between $37,000 and $41,000.
Other incentives include relocation grants for teachers to move to areas of high demand, such as Auckland.