New government figures show there are over 2,400 vacant permanent teaching positions in NSW public schools, an increase of almost 150 per cent since June last year.
The figures, released by Education Minister Sarah Mitchell, show 2,459 vacant positions in public schools in early October, at the start of Term 4.
A list of the vacancies in each school shows more than half have vacancies and multiple schools have more than 10 teaching positions vacant.
NSWTF president Angelo Gavrielatos said the latest data, coupled with Government research showing two thirds of teachers feel burnt out, underlined the extent of the classroom crisis in NSW.
“Children are missing out and teachers are burning out because of the teacher shortages,” he said.
Schools from Cronulla to Coonabarabran are dealing with a shortage of teachers.
The Perrottet Government is failing students and it is failing teachers.
We have seen a huge jump in teacher vacancies since the government released its Teacher Supply Strategy last year and said there were 995 vacant positions in schools in June.
This strategy has been a total failure with its key initiative to recruit STEM teachers delivering only 2 in a year.
You can’t fix the teacher shortage problem without fixing the wages and workload problem.
A parliamentary inquiry found sixty per cent of teachers want to leave in the next five years because of the crippling workload and uncompetitive salaries than don’t reflect their efforts or responsibilities.
The number of early career teachers leaving public schools is also at a 13 year high.
The decision by the Perrottet Government to cap pay increases at 2.53% a year for three years when inflation is 7.3% and rising defies their own research that shows the uncompetitive salaries of teachers are a major reason why the number of people studying to become a teacher has plummeted.
Mr Perrottet thinks the answer is to cut standards and employ unqualified teachers through the failed Teach for Australia program his own education department has long opposed.
The March election will be a vital test of which party has a plan to address the real causes of the shortages and secure the teachers we need for the future.”