Prime Minister John Key’s announcement that the government will budget $359 million over the next four years for major changes to education, including targeted investment for ICT teaching, is described as “great news” by Paul Matthews, chief executive of the Institute of IT Professionals.
“With the advent of the new Digital Technologies Achievement Standards recently, teachers need a greater level of support in this area than they are currently getting,” he says. “Hopefully, this will translate into real support for digital technologies teachers across the country.”
The institute was involved in last year’s IT Qualifications Review, creating a new suite of IT-related diploma and certificate qualifications which replace all of those on the NZ Qualifications Framework.
Matthews said at the time that every university and most significant polytechnics and PTEs were part of IITP’s educational program. “We work with both the secondary and tertiary sector to identify future trends and help them meet the needs that arise as a result.”
The government will introduce four new roles into schools – Executive Principal, Expert Teacher, Lead Teacher and Change Principal.