Wandsworth Council is employing teachers from New Zealand because it claims new recruits cannot be found on home territory.

During a recent trip to New Zealand, recruitment chief Brendan Ryan and Hotham Primary School headteacher Pam Young selected 24 teachers, who will take on their new posts in January.

The pair said they were "delighted with the high quality of teaching staff appointed on the recruitment trip", which the council said cost £8,500, compared to agency costs in Britain of about £5,000 a head.

Mr Ryan said the trip had exceeded all expectations: "We were looking for ways of providing schools with experienced applicants without having to incur the costs of extensive advertising campaigns or pay hefty agency fees for temporary appointments.

"To have attracted 24 teachers at a cost of £8,500 is incredible value for money, but the real prize is our success in attracting high quality staff with the right experience."

Miss Young said there was a teaching shortage generally and headteachers found it difficult to fill vacancies.

She said: "Bureaucracy and the constant implementation of new initiatives are big factors, as well as the cost of living in London.

"The teachers we have recruited see coming to London as an opportunity to develop their teaching skills and they are all highly qualified with several years experience."

A council spokesman said the teaching market was very competitive: "Using agency staff is very expensive and recruiting the same number of staff would cost £100,000, for which we could fly to New Zealand 12 times a year. We also recruit through fairs and through the teacher training scheme.

"One of the problems is that it is hard to recruit teachers at this time of year as many resign before the new year, but new teachers usually start in September."

November 26, 2001 11:30