The Australian Education Union today welcomed the recruitment campaign launched by the Prime Minister but said a far greater investment in the teaching profession and public schools was needed to end chronic shortages and ensure teachers have the time and support to meet the needs of every child.
AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said: “Teaching is the greatest profession of all and positive recruitment campaigns are an important part of making teaching more attractive to the high achieving young people we urgently need to become teachers.
Addressing the teacher shortage crisis in Victoria requires immediate action by the Victorian government through a retention payment to keep the current workforce in public schools.
The Australian Education Union Victorian Branch has welcomed the Federal Government’s $10 million advertising blitz to increase enrolments in teacher training, but called for a retention payment from the Victorian government to keep existing teachers in the classroom.
The Australian Education Union says the new National Skills Agreement, including an additional $3.7 billion in Commonwealth investment, brings to life the Albanese government’s promise to rebuild the capacity of TAFE.
The voices and expertise of early childhood teachers and educators must be central to the development of the Preschool Outcomes Measure, says the Australian Education Union.
The AEU Federal President, Correna Haythorpe noted the release of the Preschool Outcomes Measure and the proposed trial scheduled to take place in 2025 announced today.
The Federal Government’s ambitious plans to boost Australia’s skills and knowledge, outlined in the employment white paper today, will require a properly supported TAFE teaching workforce.
The Australian Education Union welcomed the additional funding for the National Skills Agreements to deliver greater resources for TAFE, including $31 million for six TAFE Centres of Excellence.
The Australian Education Union Victorian Branch has today lodged an application in the Fair Work Commission for a single interest employer authorisation on behalf of Victorian TAFE teachers. The application is made with the majority support of TAFE teachers across Victoria.
Teachers are being forced to spend hundreds of dollars of their own money each year to ensure that students do not miss out on vital education activities due to the underfunding of public schools by governments.
National polling of principals, teachers and support staff shows 85% of public school teachers are spending their own money with the average amount being just over $885 a year. NSW, WA and NT teachers are spending, on average, over $1,000 each a year.
Based on the national average, the total spending by teachers is $159.5 million a year.
The latest Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s ‘Education at a Glance’ report shows that Australia significantly underperforms against most OECD countries when it comes to investing in public schools.
The report, released today, also finds that Australian teachers on average have much higher workloads, higher than average class sizes and confirms that the salaries of Australia’s teachers plateau much earlier than they do in most OECD countries.
The Australian Education Union Victorian Branch has welcomed the announcement made by the Victorian government today to introduce scholarships for secondary teaching students with accompanying payments for those who work in public schools for two years after they graduate, and extra preparation time, mentoring and support for graduate teachers and targeted incentives to attract teachers to harder to staff schools.
AEU Victorian Branch Deputy President Justin Mullaly said the announcements are an important and positive step in the right direction.
Dear MP,
A month ago, I first wrote to you and your state Labor MP colleagues about the teacher shortage crisis in our schools.