Today, teachers and members of the PPTA are out once again waving their placards, demanding more money. They want pay rises, shorter hours, to free Palestine and Toitu Te Tiriti! Perhaps while they’re marching through the streets shouting about how undervalued they are, someone should start a protest of a different kind. One that calls out the growing number of teachers being caught sending sexually explicit messages and videos to people they believe are children. That should be the real protest.
I’m not saying it happens all the time, but it’s happening - and it’s happening too often. When teachers are supposed to be the guardians of our children’s safety and education, finding out that some have been sending videos of themselves masturbating to what they think are 14-year-olds is beyond disgusting. It’s depraved. It’s a complete betrayal of trust from a profession that demands moral authority.
According to recent figures, dozens of teachers have had their registration cancelled after being convicted of sex offences in the past five years. More than 330 have faced allegations of sexual misconduct. These aren’t minor disciplinary issues, these are crimes that destroy lives.
The Teaching Council confirmed these numbers after an Official Information Act request from the New Zealand Herald, following an investigation into a teacher who had been sexually abusing children for nearly 30 years. How many times does this have to happen before the education sector stops pretending these are isolated incidents?
What’s even more concerning is the rising number of women being charged for these kinds of offences. It completely shatters the illusion that predatory behaviour is confined to males only. Sexual exploitation of minors knows no gender - and neither does abuse of power.
While the PPTA is busy selling “Toitū Te Tiriti” T-shirts and waving rainbow flags at their marches, maybe they should take a long, hard look at what’s happening inside their own profession. Because right now, the biggest stain on teaching in New Zealand isn’t low pay, it’s the predators hiding behind the classroom door.
If the PPTA wants to fight for something meaningful, it should start by demanding higher moral standards, stricter background checks, and real accountability. Until that happens, the public will struggle to take these so-called protests seriously.
I decided to put together a list of recent cases.
Case 1: Auckland assistant principal sent nude pictures to students and colleague
Former James Cook High School assistant principal Seelandran Ramiah, a registered teacher since 1999 responsible for student engagement and well-being, engaged in serious misconduct between 2020 and 2022 by sending nude or semi-nude photos and videos of himself, explicit sexual messages detailing his desires and past activities, and making inappropriate comments on the bodies and weight of three female students in years 10, 12, and 13, as well as a recently graduated 18-year-old colleague in a non-teaching role. The interactions began with a vulnerable Year 10 student seeking support, escalating to over 2,000 messages by April-May 2022, while similar behaviors toward the others included office discussions of his sex life, encrypted app communications, physical advances like kicking one student’s bottom, inappropriate touching, and offering sex toys. Exposed in 2022 after the colleague reported sexual harassment including body comments and masturbatory videos, Ramiah was suspended on full pay, admitted to some allegations claiming mutual consent with the colleague, resigned, and was ultimately sacked in May 2022 following a voluntary undertaking with the Teaching Council; in March 2023, he pleaded guilty to indecent communication and sexual conduct with young people under 16, with sentencing set for August 2023. The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal’s 2023 report labeled his actions as serious misconduct due to the inherent power imbalance, resulting in the cancellation of his teaching registration, a formal censure, and orders to pay over $7,600 in costs.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/06/06/auckland-assistant-principal-sent-nude-pictures-to-students-colleague/
Case 2: Teacher guilty of sexually abusing student given home detention
An Auckland primary school teacher in her 30s, holding a senior role and with her own family, was sentenced to home detention in North Shore District Court on October 8, 2025, after admitting earlier in the year to grooming a young person for sexual conduct and committing an indecent act on an 11-year-old boy; an interim suppression order on her name was lifted by Judge Paul Murray, though an appeal followed immediately. The offending commenced last year when she manipulated the boy’s parents by blaming the school for his mental health decline and advocating homeschooling to gain unsupervised access, secretly grooming him through Instagram, Snapchat, and Google Docs messages where she professed love, urged him to ask her out, and convinced him they were a couple, culminating in mid-August meetings including park walks with hand-holding, wrestling and lip-kissing at her parents’ house, sending graphic nude selfies with secrecy instructions, and sleeping in his bed one night in September. Discovered after behavioral changes raised alarms leading to her arrest, she declined police interview, sentencing was postponed multiple times from May to October; Judge Murray highlighted the “devastating impact” on the boy, filling him with confusion, shame, and fear, and the profound family toll, noting the trajectory toward further sexual escalation given his vulnerability, while the Crown stressed persistence and the defense her remorse and rehab efforts. Victim impact statements from the parents detailed irreparable trust damage, brutal manipulation, and lifelong scars, with the judge declining child sex offender registration due to low reoffending risk, as the family opposed permanent suppression.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/575360/teacher-guilty-of-sexually-abusing-student-given-home-detention
Case 3: Teacher sacked after drawing explicit images in front of students
Based on available information, this case involves a New Zealand teacher who was dismissed from their position after being caught drawing explicit sexual images during class time in the presence of students, leading to an investigation by school authorities and the Teaching Council for breaching professional standards. The incident, reported around mid-2025, highlighted concerns over inappropriate conduct in an educational setting, resulting in immediate suspension and termination, though specific names, timelines, and legal outcomes were not detailed in accessible reports.)
https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/350216111/teacher-sacked-after-drawing-explicit-images-front-students
Case 4: Auckland teacher sentenced for sexual offending involving student
A 27-year-old female teacher from an unnamed Auckland secondary school, previously well-regarded by colleagues, was sentenced to two years and one month in prison by Judge Brooke Gibson for grooming and performing sexual acts on a 15-year-old male student, constituting a profound breach of trust that led to her mandatory inclusion on the child sex offender registry. The offending involved the teacher exploiting her position to sexually violate the pupil through a pattern of inappropriate interactions, though specific details on the timeline and methods, such as Snapchat exchanges and alcohol involvement, underscore the grooming process that escalated to physical sex acts. Her application for permanent name suppression was denied, though it remains in place pending appeal; the case, adjudicated in 2025, drew attention to the vulnerability of students under authority figures, with the court emphasizing the long-term psychological harm inflicted on the victim and the necessity of public accountability to deter similar abuses in educational environments.
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I feel quite ill reading this…
Marxism
Gender dysphoria…cat litter in classrooms
Spitting at David Seymour..
Waving Palestinian flags
Revisionist history
Told my kids recently they were lucky that they went through school in the ‘90s…cos I would have homeschooled them today…
This is horrifying and so frustrating!! I drove to work at 8.15 this morning (yes ladies hours at the moment) I pass 4 schools and the hospital. Not one striker waving a placard. I suppose they all had a sleep in. Any respect for the teaching profession ebbs away with each case.