Financial assistance

Māori immersion teacher allowance (MITA)

Full-time Māori immersion qualified teachers who teach the curriculum in Te Reo Māori at immersion levels 1-3 for more than 31 percent of their teaching time, are entitled to an annual allowance equivalent to one salary unit.

Full-time unqualified teachers who teach the curriculum in Te Reo Māori at immersion levels 1-3 are entitled to an annual allowance of $4000.  Schools can download the MITA application form from the Ministry of Education’s website.

National Relocation Grant (NRG)

This is an incentive from within New Zealand only to encourage primary and secondary teachers to positions that are hard-to-staff or have priority staffing status.

 NRG for school teachers

• teachers of full time primary or 0.5 FTTE secondary or more are eligible for either $1500 for a 6 – 9 week appointment or $3000 for an appointment of 20 weeks plus.
• teachers may have the option of choosing the NRG or contract entitlements such as transfer and removal provisions if they meet the eligibility criteria.
• teachers must apply for the NRG within 8 weeks of being appointed.

    The link to application forms can be viewed below. 

Retraining programmes

The Minister of Education has decided to cease funding for the retraining of primary and secondary teachers for 2010 as the current fiscal environment has resulted in a consistent reduction to the number of teacher vacancies. There is no longer the need to continue funding this initiative. We envisage that providers may start charging students directly for retraining courses.
 
You may find it helpful to refer to the Ministry of Education website www.minedu.govt.nz for further information.  You could also visit Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI) – The Online Learning Centre. TKI is a bilingual portal and web community which provides quality-assured educational material for teachers, school managers, and the wider education community. It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education. The website is http://www.tki.org.nz/e/tki/

This website also contains helpful advice, including information about the Ministry of Education preferred recruitment agencies http://www.teachnz.govt.nz/recruitment. Their services are free to teachers.