The Ministry of Education has confirmed that three people it has hired for flagship advisory roles have never worked as schoolteachers.
The Government had said that student achievement advisers would have proven ability in lifting student achievement, and
education groups expected the jobs would to go to experienced teachers and principals.
But the ministry says three of the 46 advisers it has appointed have not worked as teachers, although two did teacher training.
It says the advisers were chosen because they had a wide range of skills, including change management, evidence analysis and an understanding of school operations.
Education groups say they are disturbed and astonished that any of the practitioners do not have sound teaching experience.
The president of the primary teachers union NZEI, Ian Leckie, says it is totally inappropriate to appoint advisers who have never taught and he finds it quite remarkable.
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