The ACT Party wants an education initiative where school principals can access a fund to reward their best teachers, as well as bring the best teachers into the profession.
Leader David Seymour announced the Teaching Excellence Reward Fund policy at the party's 2021 rally at Auckland's ASB Waterfront Theatre yesterday.
The policy would cost $250 million from which principals would get a fund equal to $5,000 per full-time equivalent teacher employed to drive up standards in schools and pay the best performing teachers' bonuses.
The announcement comes as teacher standards show new primary and intermediate teachers not being proficient in mathematics.
"If we are serious about where we want this country to be in 30 years’ time, then we need to invest in education now," Seymour says.
"We need to invest in teachers. No amount of restructuring, as this government loves to do, could possibly match investing in the people who are actually at the chalkface."
Seymour says alongside the requirement for being committed to develop and practice te reo me ngā tikanga Māori, teachers should be committed to developing their passion and expertise for maths, English, and science.
"The education system is not going to transfer basic, foundation skills to the next generation if the requirements for teachers don’t put it front and centre for professional development," he says.