‘High-stakes gamble’: High schools grapple with surge in overseas applicants

Thursday, 23 July 2026

Mairehau High School principal Harry Romana says the current staffing shortage is forcing school leaders to make a “high-stakes gamble” in recruitment.

An increase in overseas applicants for teaching roles is proving a headache for some secondary schools, with one Christchurch principal describing their recruitment as a “high-stakes gamble”.

Amid a teaching shortage - the Ministry of Education forecast a deficit of 710 secondary school teachers in 2026 - a recent education union survey showed an up-tick in applications for advertised roles, but a decline in the proportion considered employable.

On the West Coast, Greymouth High School spent eight months recruiting a new head of maths from South Africa, and this year a maths teacher employed to start in term 2 pulled out at the eleventh hour after the school helped with his visa application.

In Christchurch, Mairehau High School principal Harry Romana said he was overwhelmed with international applicants for vacancies, but they come with huge risk.

Filling secondary school teacher vacancies is a headache for many principals due to a dearth of suitable candidates.

“We’re forced into what I think is a high-stakes gamble, and that’s around the operational risks … hiring the wrong person far outweighs the logistical headache of leaving the position vacant.”

A Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) survey of 155 principals in term 1 this year found international applicants largely drove the increase in applications for 249 advertised vacancies.

Each teaching role advertised drew, on average, nearly 12 applications from overseas-trained teachers, compared with nearly three from New Zealand, on average.

For 185 classroom teaching roles advertised between January 1 and March 9, an average 1.3 New Zealand applications were suitable compared to 0.9 from overseas.

Suitability teaching competence, a teaching qualification, relevant tertiary subject qualification, appropriate communication and interpersonal skills and any “special character” considerations.

Romana said international applicants often lacked a sufficient understanding of New Zealand culture, the New Zealand curriculum and approach to teaching, and often required schools to help with their visa applications, which could take weeks to be approved.

He said many didn’t have a New Zealand teaching registration.

Romana said schools were managing the teacher shortage by reassigning teachers from their specialist subject areas to “just to fill the gaps” or cancelling subjects.

Romana says it’s a constant juggle to manage staffing gaps.

His school had to scrap fashion and design.

Another way was to fill roles with non-registered teachers under a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT), and then support them through on-the-job training.

Romana said the school had supported LAT staff in hospitality and te reo Māori, but it required a lot from schools.

“I’m OK with the training on the job because we're able to put in a lot of support for the individual, but my word it takes a lot of time and patience and a lot of administration.”

The survey found the proportion of advertised positions filled by LAT holders rose to 8% in 2026, the highest in 20 years.

Subject areas that were hardest to fill included commerce, food technology, hard materials, maths, PE, te reo Māori and Samoan.

Greymouth High School principal Samantha Mortimer said the school “rarely” had applications from New Zealand teachers and relied on recruitment agencies to fill vacant roles - mainly with overseas-trained candidates.

Greymouth High School principal Samantha Mortimer says the school depended on overseas recruits as locally trained teachers rarely applied.

She said the Government contributed about $4000 towards the $8000 cost, but it was still a considerable outlay for the school.

“So for us, we have to employ people from overseas.”

Mortimer said international teachers added to “the flavour of our school”, but came with challenges, including fitting into the community and school culture, and visa and travel delays.

Post Primary Teachers' Association’s (PPTA) Te Wehengarua President Chris Abercrombie says the union’s survey showed recruitment still a major problem for principals, despite an increase in applications.

“We’re a true comprehensive school, where we have the rich farmers, very middle class people, right down to kids that sleep in tents under the bridge, and everything in between.”

Recruiting a new head of maths from South Africa took eight months, and this year a maths teacher employed to start in term 2 pulled out at the eleventh hour after the school helped with his visa application, Mortimer said.

PPTA president Chris Abercrombie said the increase in international applicants was likely the result of marketing by the Government and the appeal of New Zealand as a place to live and work.

“Our overseas-trained teachers have been absolutely vital for our system … it would have literally collapsed without them, but there’s also unique issues … dealing with visas, it’s dealing with integration.”

He said the “relationship-based education system” in New Zealand was different from that in some other countries. “They're very much the teacher at the front, and the kids sit there quietly.”

To help address these issues, the PPTA is working on a micro-credential with Victoria University to upskill them on the New Zealand education system, Abercrombie said.

While he welcomed an increase in student teachers, some new graduates required a high degree of support that schools could not provide, and some roles were not suitable for beginning teachers.

Abercrombie said the PPTA is advocating for a funded mentoring programme to support beginning teachers.

“It’s common sense that a well-supported beginning teacher stays in the profession.”