95bFM Government announces $53 million plan to pay for teachers’ registration fees and classroom developments
1 May, 2025
Interview by Castor Chacko, adapted by Samantha Watson-Tayler
Post Primary Teachers’ Association President, Chris Abercrombie, supports the government’s move to provide $53 million to help new teachers pay registration fees and classroom developments, but says this is “one part of the puzzle”.
To make teaching more accessible in Aotearoa, the government has announced it will be paying teacher’s registration fees.
This will cost $53 million and is a part of the 2025 Budget.
This comes as a report released by the Ministry of Education in February shows 750 new primary and 500 new secondary school teachers will be needed in 2025 alone.
Currently, teachers are required to pay $464.37 for a practising certificate valid for three years.
President of the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA), Chris Abercrombie, told 95bFM’s The Wire that this announcement is a great thing to happen.
“It's something [the PPTA have] been asking for a long time, so it's great to see the government come to the party on this.”
Abercrombie is optimistic the plan will help bring new talent to the profession.
“It's particularly important for beginning teachers because they're lower down the pay scale.”
The plan also greenlights funding for new classroom developments to deal with overcrowding in schools.
Abercrombie says the teacher shortage has led to schools taking drastic measures to cope with ever-increasing workloads; some going as far as to have students work in corridors or convert sports fields into temporary classrooms.
He says these short-term solutions are not sustainable without further investment into educational infrastructure.
He adds that investing in educational infrastructure is “one part of the puzzle”.
“We need really clear infrastructure planning, and that goes across the board for schools, hospitals, our water network, [and] our electricity network.”
Abercrombie is optimistic about the future of the profession in Aotearoa.
“We know that teaching is an amazing career, and [to anyone] thinking about becoming [a teacher], now's an excellent time to do it.”
