The Education Minister has been urged to slam the brakes on a reckless departmental shake up of school attendance policy that would see 113 specialist Home School Liaison Officer positions replaced by clerks with no experience in getting kids to school.
The Home School Liaison Officers have more than 1000 years of combined teaching experience and deliver the highest school attendance rate in the country. They are highly experienced teachers who work with families and schools across every community in NSW to keep young people engaged in education. After COVID, it was this team that did the hard work alongside schools to bring tens of thousands of struggling students back into the classroom.
The teachers were informed they would be replaced this morning.
NSW Teachers Federation Deputy President Natasha Watt said the decision was short-sighted and ill-informed.
“These are the specialists who reconnect kids with school when nothing else has worked,” Ms Watt said. “This is a winning formula that is delivering results in very difficult circumstances. To fiddle with a proven, nation-leading success is reckless and unwarranted.
“Home School Liaison Officers are the reason families in every part of the state, from the bush to the suburbs, have someone to turn to when a young person stops going to school.
“NSW has the highest school attendance in the country. That is not an accident. It is the direct result of the work these teachers do every day alongside schools and families.
“To wipe out more than 1000 years of specialist teaching experience in one stroke, at a time when student wellbeing and school engagement are front of mind for every parent in this state, is short-sighted and ill-informed.
“Department has made a big mistake here but it’s not too late to fix it. We urge the Minister to intervene and reverse this.”
The shake up is slated to take effect from the start of Term 3.