Skilled sportspeople have more attractive options than teaching which has led to teacher involvement in school sport falling to its lowest level in 20 years, the boss of School Sport New Zealand says.
A recent study showed 26 percent of teachers coaching sport in schools had been doing it for 15 years or more and would "walk over broken glass" to continue for the next season. [FILE PIC] Photo: 123RF
The School Sport New Zealand survey of secondary schools shows 29 percent of teachers were involved in school sport last year, the lowest figure on record and down from a high of 46 percent in 2000.
School Sport New Zealand chief executive Garry Carnachan told Morning Report teachers were "time poor" and the biggest reason for this was the introduction of NCEA - the National Certificate for Education Achievement.
"Formerly for sports lovers teaching was an attractive job." School Sport New Zealand chief executive Garry Carnachan
He said the reasons teachers weren't so keen on coaching their students in sport were complex, however, there had been a "slow leak" at about 1 percent a year for the past 10 to 12 years.
That meant about 80 or 90 teachers annually nationwide dropped out of coaching which amounted to 400 over five years which was significant.
Carnachan said the interests of those entering the teaching profession had changed in the last few years and people who had an affinity with sport had plenty of other career choices.
"Formerly for sports lovers teaching was an attractive job. Now sport is a career in many, many organisations as it's become more professional in administration and also most tertiary institutions now have some sort of sports management degree.
"So the [teaching] intake has really changed. The data tell us that 95 percent of our coaches come from a playing background and we're getting less and less of those people going into teaching as the alternatives have changed.
"So combined with the ageing teaching force and less coming in at the front - that's a major contributor."
Teachers still recognised that sport was important for the mental, physical and social health which in turn helped with a good attitude in the classroom but increasingly teachers were "time-poor".
"We've just finished a piece of research with Waikato University around teachers and coaching ... and that's at around 16 percent (involvement in sport) again at its lowest level and again they're telling us it's time pressure.
"The increased demands within school and and then beyond school, their commitments to family which is making it mainly unsustainable."
The big difference over the last 15 to 20 years is the introduction of NCEA and the internal assessment which was a constant for teachers and an enormous demand on them, Carnachan said.
He added that while some teachers were losing enthusiasm for coaching others were "zealots". The study showed 26 percent had been doing it for 15 years or more and would "walk over broken glass" to continue for the next season.
The survey found 51 percent of secondary students were involved in sport in 2019, a low that was reached in the years between 2008 to 2010.
Netball was the most-played secondary school sport, followed by basketball and then rugby and football.
Regional participation rates ranged from 66 percent in Otago and Wairarapa to 37 percent in Waitakēre.