Future educators: Year 12 students Meredith Maihi and Nicholas Gaston brush up on their presentation skills. Picture: Mike Sea
Personable, articulate and academically minded, Castle Hill High School students Meredith Maihi and Nicholas Gaston should have no trouble meeting tougher standards for teachers.
Both plan to study education at university and believe the entry requirements should contribute to a better standard within their future profession.
"There's one thing having the intelligence and having the marks, but then you also have to be able to have that rapport with the kids as well," Miss Maihi, 17, said.
"I think quality teachers are really going to come out of this plan because you're testing both sides of the scale. Now all we have to do is study hard to try and get the marks."
High school graduates need a mark over 80 in at least three subjects including English to qualify for a teaching degree. Under new national guidelines interviews, demonstrated aptitude and written statements would also be used to screen applicants.
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Mr Gaston, 17, wants to be a high school teacher.
"I like the way some of our teachers make us realise that the subjects that we are doing don't just apply to the tests we study for, they apply to broader things as well," he said.
"I just thought being a teacher would be great."
Mr Gaston said new requirements that take emotional intelligence and other skills into account were a good idea.
"You can get all sorts of teachers and [they] really find their niche once they start teaching, so maybe if you start weeding them out before that you are loosing some of the diversity," he said.
"Some students react to teachers completely differently so it's probably good to have that diversity still."
Miss Maihi, 17, wants to become a primary school special education teacher and said helping students was part of the profession’s appeal.
‘‘I come from a family of teachers so it sort of runs in my blood,’’ she said.
‘‘You can do all the training you want but it comes down to how you connect with the children in the classroom.’’