Education Minister Chris Hipkins has flipped the teacher shortage discussion on its head - saying schools aren't recruiting fast enough.

He told the Principal Federations annual conference an overseas recruitment drive has had more than 2000 responses.

Of those, 315 have been assessed and are ready to teach and a third have started the interview process.

But Principals Federation national president Whetu Cormack told Mike Hosking it's not as simple as it sounds.

"The Government has put a whole lot of stuff into short term fixes, which is fantastic because we have that happening, but at the same time unless we pay out teachers more we [can't] recruit young, homegrown Kiwis who are confident in their abilities."

LISTEN ABOVE AS WHETU CORMACK SPEAKS WITH MIKE HOSKING