Teachers Federation members at Blackwell Public School have walked off the job over the negative impact the state-wide teacher shortage is having on their students.
NSW Teachers Federation Deputy President Henry Rajendra said teachers walked out because they were “fed up” with the consistent lack of casual teachers to support teaching and learning in their school.
“Schools across greater western Sydney are being hit by the state-wide staffing crisis and teachers at Blackwell Public School have had enough of the NSW Government’s inaction,” Mr Rajendra said.
“Teachers are having to split and cover classes. At a minimum, one split class negatively impacts on the learning of three classes of children and adds to the workload of two teachers.”
Mr Rajendra said the Gallop Inquiry into the work of teachers found earlier this year that uncompetitive salaries for teachers and unsustainable workloads are leading to teacher shortages.
“Our members are calling for the full implementation of the Gallop Inquiry recommendations to ensure that our public schools have the qualified permanent teachers necessary to meet the needs of every student, every single school day.”
“The Government can’t fix the shortages without fixing the wages and workload problem.”
“If we don’t pay teachers what they are worth and give them the time they need to do important work, we won’t get the teachers we need.