Javier Venegas is a Chilean who now resides in South Canterbury. He's won awards for his singing, but wants to get back to his first love: teaching.

A test that tripped up tertiary-educated English speakers is blocking qualified immigrants from entering New Zealand's classrooms, despite a desperate teacher shortage.

Javier Venegas was deputy principal of a school in his homeland of Chile, but since moving to the South Canterbury town of Waimate he earns a living driving a forklift, and moonlights as a singer.

Venegas brought his family to New Zealand in 2014 for a "better life" and hoped to continue his dream job of educating young minds.

To prove evidence of English language proficiency he had to sit a test in February 2018 which cost him $400.

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He managed to get the 70 per cent required to teach in the speaking and listening sections, but his 65 percent for writing and reading did not meet the 70 per cent requirement of the Ministry of Education for him to teach here.

BEJON HASWELL/STUFF Javier Venegas a teacher form Chile works as a forklift driver and sings in his spare time because he did not get enough marks in an English test to teach here.

"It is very difficult even for native speakers. I did well but not well enough.

"They ask stuff nobody knows. It's not common knowledge."

He thinks it would make more sense to be judged on class management, engagement, motivation and assessment.

Staff at Stuff's Timaru newsroom attempted the same English test, and only two out of four met the pass threshhold of 70 per cent (results below).

Venegas was born and grew up in Iquique a copper mining port city in northern Chile, with a population of about 400,000.

His dad was a primary school principal and his mum a teacher. Javier was the youngest of four, with an older brother and two sisters.

Where he lived, a teacher would earn $1400 a month with rent at about $250 a week, it was a struggle to make ends meet. In recent months, his previously stable homeland has descended into chaos with widespread, violent civic protests about the cost of living.

"Life in New Zealand for a teacher is good compared to my country."

BEJON HASWELL/ STUFF Waimate forklift driver and Chilean Javier Venegas holds the trophy he won in the New Zealand Latin American Singing Award.

Converting overseas qualifications to New Zealand is a common issue. Javier says he knows a qualified psychologist but works at a dairy factory another is an internet network technician who's now a forklift driver and another still is an IT engineer who has not reached the mark in the English test despite sitting it five times so works in construction instead.

The tests were sporadic and sometimes only available four times a year or they were all booked up. For his, he had to pay his way to Wellington to sit it, on top of the fee.

A Teaching Council spokesperson said it was important that pupils had high quality teachers regardless of any teacher shortage issues.

The council changed how it gauged language competence at the start of this year by adding a greater range of test options (seven in total), which offered a variety of testing methods.

"We believe we have struck the right balance between accepting a more diverse workforce and ensuring high quality teachers are in front of children," she said.

The council did not have figures on pass or fail rates.

BEJON HASWELL/ STUFF Javier Venegas a teacher from Chile is frustrated he cannot pursue his career here..

The Ministry of Education's deputy secretary early learning and student achievement Ellen MacGregor-Reid said they recommended that any overseas trained teacher considering coming to New Zealand, contact the Ministry's recruiters first to check the requirements and to see what assistance can be provided.



Despite the frustration of working shift work in a job he only ever did to pay for his education he is happy, and is "loving" living in South Canterbury.

"It is quiet and I can send the children to school by themselves. It is safe here."

Of the English tests he said there should be another way, but he does not want to rock the boat or appear ungrateful.

The father of four recently gained first prize for his solo performance of The Lord's Prayer, in the New Zealand Latin Awards in Christchurch.

By accident the singing forklift driver has become an ambassador for Waimate as other Latin Americans he met at the singing contest were curious about its geographical location. He is also working on writing a song about the small rural town and learning the national anthem in English and te reo Māori.

​Venegas sings in churches as he favours gospel and classical music and is planning to record an album with a mixture of both genres.

As he cannot afford a professional recording he is heading to the Christchurch Library studio to record himself for free on Sunday.

TESTING TIMES

To see how hard the test is three reporters and a photographer in Stuff's Timaru newsroom sat one sample task each from the International English Language Testing System. For participants to register as a teacher in New Zealand they have to get a minimum of 70 per cent in all the tests across reading, writing, listening and speaking.

The following lists what the tests assessed and how the staff members found it.

Reporter A 100 per cent (Test required them to match features by reading an extract then determining if a statement agreed or contradicted with what was written)

"I found the English reading test incredibly easy. I remember from comprehension tests at school that the key is to read through the text before looking at the questions. I was slightly thrown when I came up with the same answer for two of the questions, but after rereading the question found that answers could be used more than once a trick that may catch some people out."

Photographer B 75 per cent (multiple choice comprehension)

"I found this the test hard only for one reason and that was the first question had the answers worded differently to what they were in the main article, they still meant the same thing but I saw the answers as being a little more 'vague'. I can see why people whose first language isn't English can struggle with this, as they might get tripped up on the different meanings and the multiple ways to say something. Overall, I found the test pretty easy and would probably do it again if I had to."

Reporter C 50 per cent (selecting from a list of words and phrases)

"I found the test difficult because the concepts were quite similar, so a word I felt fitted one spot also fitted another. The second part was easier because the sentences or phrases that followed provided more context."

Reporter D 33 per cent (identifying information)

"The questions were tricky because they required everything to be read twice. There were aspects of the passage that were not totally clear in their meaning."