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The Teaching Council has opened consultation this week on a proposal to increase practising certificate renewal fees from $464 to $501 for the next three years. 

Chris Abercrombie said the proposal represented an 8% increase which the Council advise is the result of cost inflation as well as increased operating costs. One of those is the processing of thousands of overseas teaching applications.

Teaching Council explanations for the proposed fee increase include the fact the Government funding of additional staff to process overseas teachers’ applications would end in June. “The Government has deliberately chosen to hire overseas teachers to address teacher shortages, rather than ensuring an adequate supply of New Zealand teachers, so it should continue the funding of staff to process overseas applications for as long as it takes. There is no way the profession should be paying for this.” 

Chris Abercrombie said it was National Party policy that teachers’ registration fees should be paid for by the government, and teachers supported this. “This will most likely be part of our claim in our collective agreement negotiations later this year. 

“In the meantime, I would strongly encourage all teachers to have their say on the proposed fee increase.” 

Last modified on Thursday, 6 March 2025 16:59

“The report released today shows clearly we are facing significant shortages of secondary teachers around the motu.

“The Government’s attempts to address the shortage by importing teachers from overseas, employing unqualified staff and lowering the re-entry requirements for teachers who have been out of the profession for a while are a bandaid on the significant need in schools.

“We need improvements in relative pay rates and working conditions and the removal of barriers into teaching – such as paid training.”

“Also, the numbers still only tell part of the story as the specialist nature of secondary teaching means that you could have numbers balanced yet still be short of hundreds of the needed teachers in practice. And if you want schools to have a choice of appointment you actually need a surplus of teachers in each region.”

“Even on the most optimistic projection for secondary teachers, schools could still be struggling to fill subject vacancies and reducing curriculum options or having teachers take subject classes they are not specialists in, e.g. specialist history teachers taking physics classes.”

Chris Abercrombie said the report did not take into account relief teacher supply. “Relief teachers are a big part of the system and shortages there are a major pressure currently.

“This report acknowledges what we are hearing from principals around the motu – that it is becoming increasingly difficulty to fill vacancies in a wide range of subject areas, and in a wide range of schools.

“The secondary teacher shortage is worsening and if this Government is serious about growing Aotearoa New Zealand, it needs to start with the basics and ensure every secondary school student has a trained and qualified specialist teacher in every subject.”

Last modified on Friday, 21 February 2025 10:02

Last updated: Friday 18 March 2022

Learning about summer farming in what she knows as the middle of winter took a little getting used to for American student Katie Owens, but she says the knowledge gained from her virtual study abroad experience at Massey was interesting and informative.

“I enjoyed learning about farming and livestock from a different perspective than how we do in the United States, and it was cool to learn about deer farming since we don’t have that here. But it was just a bit weird talking about farming in the opposite months that we would here in the United States.”

The Animal Sciences student is currently studying at the University of Kentucky in Lexington USA and has just completed a Virtual Study Abroad programme at Massey during Semester 2, 2021. While she initially struggled with the time difference between Kentucky and New Zealand, Katie found the 24 hour window to complete assessments helped her keep up with the workload.

“Everyone I spoke to was super nice and really welcoming. If I ever had any questions, I would just email the course instructor who was really helpful. I feel like my course with Massey there were a lot more lecturers and topics covered than what we have in the US, so it was worth the effort as I got a lot out of the course.”

Katie plans to become a veterinary assistant when she graduates and believes the international perspective from her Virtual Study Abroad experience with Massey will help her future employability.

“It’s not the same as studying overseas but I do feel like virtually studying abroad offers you something that you can’t get in a typical classroom at the moment,” Katie says. “I’ve been able to build these intercultural relationships and have global communications.”

She also has a few kiwi words to add to her vocabulary, relying on Google to translate some of the words she didn’t understand in her programme.

“I’d never heard of the terms “hind” referring to deer or “hogget” when referring to sheep and words like hectares instead of acres, or abattoir were completely new to me. Some of the spellings of words were also different too so I just googled the words to figure it out.”

While studying abroad has been challenging recently due to the COVID pandemic, virtual study abroad courses offer opportunities to gain international and intercultural education experiences for students who are unable to travel.

According to Massey’s Manager Global Engagement (Recruitment and Mobility) Greg Huff, virtual study abroad programmes provide an opportunity to make global education accessible to all.

“Not everyone has the ability to travel due to financial constraints, immigration complications or family situations. While we hope that every student at some point will have an in-person experience, these virtual programmes are still really rewarding.”

Click here to find out more about Virtual Study Abroad at Massey.

Last updated: Thursday 19 January 2023

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins’ slip of the tongue has taken out New Zealand’s Quote of the Year competition, beating a toddler’s response to seeing a goat by a mere 0.5 per cent of votes.

The quotes were neck to neck throughout the polling, which had a record 8,296 votes cast.

Hipkins’ slip of the tongue occurred during a press conference in August when he accidentally referred to New Zealanders going outside to “spread their legs”. The unusual health advice brought raised eyebrows from Dr Ashley Bloomfield who was standing next to him. The gaffe attracted 38.9 per cent of the votes.

The runner-up, with 38.4% of the votes, was “No, it’s a f…ing goat!” The quote is from footage of a Christchurch mother and her two-year-old daughter seeing a goat in their garden. Mimicking her mother’s surprise, the toddler exclaims: “There’s a f…ing goat outside!” Her mother responds: “It’s just a goat,” but the toddler corrects her: “No, it’s a f…ing goat!”

Winners from day one

Massey speech writing specialist and competition organiser Dr Heather Kavan said Hipkins’ and the toddler’s quotes were streaks ahead in the poll within the first hours of voting.

Kavan attributes their success to the light relief they provided during the pandemic. “The videos sparked wit and creativity across the internet as New Zealanders revelled in the footage.

“Almost immediately, Hipkins’ gaffe became a rallying cry to ‘Spread your legs, not the virus,’ and the toddler’s goat quote became an internet sensation.”

The gaffe that energised a nation

The full impact of “spread their legs” may never be known, and there is social media speculation that it could increase New Zealand’s birth rate, Kavan said.

“Twitter users re-imagined the war against COVID-19 through the new salacious lens. Tweet after tweet celebrated Hipkins’ trail-blazing approach and the revised X-rated meaning of ‘Go early; go hard’.

“New Zealanders posted photos of themselves and their pets spreading their legs, while the Royal New Zealand Ballet tweeted photos of its dancers doing sculpture-like leg poses that most of us could only dream of accomplishing.

“There was also a heady remix video with the sign language interpreter’s gestures portrayed as dance moves.”

This is not the first time a slip of the tongue has won Quote of the Year. In 2018, Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges beat top New Zealand comedians in the poll with his accidental reference to deputy Paula Bennett as ‘Paula Benefit’.

The toddler and the goat

Runner-up “No, it’s a f…ing goat!” was an unusual quote for the top ten because of the speaker’s young age. Although the two-year-old’s name was already public, the judges de-identified her in case the list had ramifications for her when she was older.

It was the child’s innocence that wowed voters, Kavan said. “Most of the other speakers had a topic of national importance and a relatively sophisticated vocabulary. But the toddler had a sincerity that viewers loved.”

Like “spread their legs”, the goat quote took on a life of its own, spawning social media commentary and a parody video in which the goat was replaced by footage of Donald Trump dancing. The parody has since been removed from YouTube.

Kavan said her favourite comment was by Twitter user Andrew Frame who imagined how annoyed New Zealand’s 26.16 million sheep must be that the country has gone viral because of a single goat.

Jemima Gazley  

Third place, with 13.8% of the votes, went to a more serious quote—Jemima Gazley’s “If I can’t be cured, I’ll be the cure.” Fourteen-year-old Ms Gazley was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer in February and spent her last weeks crowdfunding to help Australian researcher Dr Matt Dun find a cure.

“If ever a quote told a story, it’s this one. My hope is that Jemima’s family can take some small comfort from knowing her courageous words will endure.” Kavan said.

New Zealand’s Quote of the Year competition began in 2011 and celebrates the country’s best language moments. 

Last updated: Thursday 17 March 2022

Two Massey University lecturers recently spoke at the inaugural International Potato Symposium. The symposium was jointly organised by Massey University and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and was held online on 9 December. Speakers and participants from more than 20 countries, including New Zealand, China, Peru, Canada, and the United States, shared their thoughts and findings.

The symposium was focussed on presenting new knowledge on potato chemistry, nutrition and potato processing and how the potato can play an important role in food security and food sustainability in the next 30 years. Potatoes hold a strong influence in the food and beverage industry, due to their reputation as environmentally sustainable and a healthier plant-based food.

Associate Professor Jaspreet Singh from the School of Food and Advanced Technology says the annual Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology symposia are timely, as the potato processing industry is looking for new ways to create healthy processed products.

“This symposium will shape the future research direction for this important food source. The purpose of the symposium is to feature high-quality advanced research and knowledge contributed by various potato research groups around the world. Introducing the symposium has encouraged researchers from academia and the potato processing industry to submit their research on the chemistry, nutrition and technology of tuber crops for presentation.

Top issues from healthy potato products to food sustainability and food waste utilisation were discussed at the symposium, through presentations and panel discussions. Some of these included the development of new and disruptive technologies and processes, potato protein as an alternative protein source, healthy potato products, utilisation of potato industry by-products and ‘waste streams’, which contribute towards the United Nations sustainability development goals.

One important presentation was based on “China’s potato staple food policy,” which highlighted the need for sustainable and balanced food utilisation. China is the world’s largest producer of potatoes.

Dr Lovedeep Kaur from the School of Food and Advanced Technology, and Associate Professor Singh, have published two editions of the textbook Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology, and have recently been invited to publish the third edition. Theirs is the only book published on the subject so far.

Associate Professor Singh added that the symposium was well received by the food science community around the world.

“Participants from several countries joined the symposium to attend presentations by reputed speakers. The symposium highlights were the panel discussion on the future of potato processing and how the potato can contribute to achieving global food security and sustainability, keeping in view the changing consumer trends around health, taste and convenience. It was also great to see the enthusiasm and quality of the presentations by young scientists. Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technologies 2021 Young Scientist Awards were presented at the end of symposium.”

“This symposium fills a gap by providing an opportunity for potato researchers and industry professionals to update their knowledge on potato processing for better future and business opportunities.”

Five students from the School of Built Environment have recently been awarded one-year tertiary scholarships for 2022 through Keystone Trust and their Key Scholarship Partners.

For more than 27 years Keystone Trust has provided support for young people from challenging backgrounds – both financial and circumstantial – to undertake tertiary study towards a professional career in the property and construction industry. The trust has assisted more than 180 rangatahi into the sector, awarding around $2 million in scholarship funding. Wrap-around support is also provided in terms of pastoral care, site visits, career support, mentoring, networking opportunities, introductions to sponsors, work experience and internships, and quite often full-time job offers at the conclusion of their study.

In 2022, Keystone Trust had 10 one-year tertiary scholarships on offer. An invaluable part of these scholarships is the industry connectivity that allows students to grow from the experience of being directly supported and mentored by their Key Scholarship Partner company. Massey students were awarded five scholarships.

Dr Gregory Chawynski, Director of Engagement, School of Built Environment and Senior Lecturer in Construction Management at the Auckland campus, says the School strongly supports and ensures students become eligible for the scholarship.

“Our school ensures all the candidates are screened and interviewed. The successful applicants are people who are determined to succeed and become leaders in the construction industry. We are very proud of the students who receive the scholarship and look forward to seeing what the future holds for them.”

Keystone Trust General Manager, Amanda Stanes, says the trust has had many Massey students go through the programme over the years.

The five students awarded scholarships this year are:

• Matthew Allan – 2022 Keystone Waide Construction Scholarship
• Nathan Murray – 2022 Keystone and Alf Russell Property & Construction Scholarship
• Jason Barker – 2022 Keystone and Miles Construction Scholarship
• Jay Barot – 2022 Keystone Trust and Barnes Beagley Doherr Quantity Surveying Scholarship
• Shae Ridder – 2022 Keystone Hawkins Scholarship

In addition, Keystone Trust has three, three-year Study Award scholarship recipients at Massey ­– one from the College of Creative Arts and two studying at the School of Built Environment. Last year, five Massey University tertiary students from the Auckland and Manawatū campuses received one-year scholarships from Keystone to support their academic journeys.