A ministerial review has called for a new professional body for the teaching profession and higher entry standards to teacher training courses.
The review, published on Monday, says the Teachers Council needs to be replaced in 2015 by an organisation that is more independent from the Government, can speak for the teaching profession and will set tougher standards for teachers.
The Government has appointed an advisory group to lead consultation on the proposal.
The review says the new body should keep responsibility for registering and disciplining teachers, but teachers might have to pay more for its upkeep.
It calls for higher entry standards to teacher training courses and for those courses to be at post-graduate level.
The review says teacher competency and disciplinary rules should be tighter, and warns that some schools are not very good at managing staff problems.
It says the current Teachers Council is answerable to Education Minister Hekia Parata, but the new body should be responsible to the public.
Ms Parata says a stronger version of the council could raise the level of debate about education issues such as the quality of teaching.
"How you would recognise it at 20 feet - is it happening in my child's school, what do I do if it isn't? I mean, those kinds of debates we very rarely have in a very public way across the country, so I would welcome a professional body leading those discussions."
Ms Parata says she does not envisage a professional body for teachers being a thorn in the Government's side.
