Principals want foreign teachers exempted from the Covid-19 border restrictions so they can plug staffing gaps caused by the teacher shortage. Auckland Secondary Principals Association president Steve Hargreaves said the pandemic was also prompting more New Zealand teachers to return from overseas jobs. However, Hargreaves said nobody was sure how many New Zealand teachers might return and principals were worried about the likely lack of foreign teachers. Lethbridge said it was possible that more New Zealand teachers would return because of the pandemic, but schools would still need foreign teachers. "If we're looking for foreign teachers coming in, we would need to think about having something in place for the start of next year," he said.

Source: Stuff July 01, 2020 19:30 UTC