New research by Monash University shows the teacher workforce crisis in Victorian public schools will get worse unless significant steps are taken to address workloads and salaries.
The research – based on a survey of over 8,000 Victorian public school teachers, principals, assistant principals, and education support staff – shows only three in 10 intend to stay working in public schools until retirement. In addition, almost 40% are uncertain about continuing to work in Victorian public schools.
Disturbingly, mid-career educators are most likely to intend to leave and most likely to be uncertain about staying. This raises serious concerns about a significant loss of expertise, which would have detrimental impacts on student learning outcomes as well as support for student-teacher preparation, early career teachers, and future school leadership.
Monash University’s Education Workforce for the Future Research Lab found that excessive workloads are the most prevalent reason for staff indicating their intention to stop working in Victorian public schools. Inadequate pay is also identified as another key reason for leaving.
“Without significant and urgent action to retain current staff, the teacher workforce shortage crisis impacting Victorian public schools will get worse,” said AEU Victorian branch president Meredith Peace.
“The state Labor government has not done enough to fix the teacher shortage crisis and has done nothing new to fix the issue in over 12 months. This new research is a wake-up call for Education Minister Ben Carroll and the Premier.
“This new data shows that Victorian public school teachers work an average of 12.4 extra, unpaid hours every week in order to manage the demands of their work and provide high-quality education for their students.
“Yet despite this, they report not having the time to do their key work, including working directly with students, collaborating on teaching and learning, supporting colleagues and planning curriculum.
“Teachers, principals and education support staff are bogged down with administrative duties and meetings that are not directly related to students’ class work. The Department of Education has dumped administration and regulatory work on school staff when they should be able to fully focus on educating students.
“Meanwhile, salaries in Victorian public schools do not reflect the complexity of teaching or adequately cover the hours worked, and are not competitive with teachers in other states and territories or the private sector.
“The lack of real ongoing action by Minister Carroll and Premier Allan, such as providing a retention payment to encourage existing staff to stay, signals that they think it is okay for some children and young people not to have a permanent teacher. Our students, their families, and our community deserve better than that.”
The research was undertaken to inform the first in a new series of public education discussion papers, What the Profession Needs Now for the Future. The first paper involved a survey of over 8,000 Australian Education Union Victorian branch members, as well as engagement with research literature and policy from other national and global settings.
Lead researcher Dr Fiona Longmuir, from the Faculty of Education at Monash University, says a focus on retention is required.
“There are significant proportions of educators working in Victoria’s public schools who are either intending to leave, or uncertain about their future. Given the recent years of attrition and current conditions of teacher shortages impacting the provision of education across Victoria, this should be of significant concern,” Dr Longmuir said.
“We have made a series of recommendations, along with the AEU, for policy-makers to support school staff currently working in Victoria’s schools to stay. This is crucial to mitigate rising attrition.
Principal, teacher and education support staff salaries should be increased by an amount that provides adequate compensation for the critical and demanding work they undertake.
“We also recommend the Department takes steps to reduce administrative work and meetings to support educators to better manage their workloads and prioritise teaching and learning activities, as well as measures to enhance flexibility, a review of leave provisions, a review of conditions for education support staff, and increased support for school leaders.”
Meredith Peace and Dr Fiona Longmuir are available for interviews.
MEDIA CONTACTS
AEU: Alys Gagnon 0438 379 977, [email protected]
Monash University Media Unit: 03 9903 4840, [email protected]
9 August 2024