The Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (the Education Council) replaces the New Zealand Teachers Council from 1 July 2015.
The Education Council is the new independent statutory professional body for teachers and education leaders. Find out more about the changes on the Education Council website .
Also from 1 July, there are changes to teacher registration and certification processes. Registration will be separated from practising certificates. This means that from 1 July teacher registration will not expire (although it can still be cancelled), but you will still need to reapply for your practising certificate every three years.
For ECE funding purposes, there is no change to the Ministry of Education definition of a ‘registered teacher’, which is detailed in Chapter 3-B-2 of the ECE Funding Handbook and states:
"A 'registered teacher' is a holder of a current practising certificate that has been issued by the New Zealand Teachers Council, or a letter from the Teachers' Council advising that registration has been approved and that the practising certificate will be mailed within four to six weeks."
This includes provisionally certificated teachers, teachers 'subject to confirmation', and fully certificated teachers.
ECE services are advised to ensure they are familiar with the Education Council teacher registration and certification changes and to discuss the changes with their staff.