New survey finds almost every public school is being affected by casual teacher shortage

A major casual teacher shortage means almost 10,000 lessons are happening without adequate educational support in public schools across New South Wales every day.

That’s the finding of a survey of 2,100 schools conducted by the NSW Department of Education.

It found a 42 per cent shortfall in the number of casual teachers is driving the problem and it warns that almost every public school surveyed is affected.

So, how does your child’s situation stack up?

Where are the greatest shortages?

Connected Communities schools, which are predominantly in Aboriginal communities, and regions like Deniliquin, Gundagai, Mudgee, Mooki and Barwon fare the worst with at least 70 per cent of schools impacted by the shortage.

Rural, regional, and outer metro areas are also significantly impacted by the shortage.

NSW Teachers Federation acting president Henry Rajendra said, typically, students who were the most adversely affected were those in areas where educational outcomes needed improving.

“This is not good for any student but, of course, it’s impacting our most disadvantaged communities and therefore our students within those communities,” he said.

Within Greater Sydney, more than 70 per cent of schools in the Hawkesbury and Mount Druitt reported shortages, so too did the majority of public schools in Eastern Creek, Quakers Hill, Wollondilly, Liverpool, and Auburn, the survey found.

“Whether it’s in regional and remote areas or areas across Western Sydney and south-west Sydney; they don’t deserve this. They need to be treated as a priority for the system. They’re learning matters as much as anybody else.”

NSW Education Minister Prue Car agreed, flagging that when there were not enough teachers to cover a given lesson, students often ended up in merged classes.

In high schools, she said the situation was even worse with multiple classes often being placed together in a library or even outdoors where students may be supervised by just one teacher.

“That really isn’t good enough,” Ms Car said.

“That’s the single biggest way we can actually improve the outcomes for our kids.”

Ms Car said the government would review the findings to determine how the problem could be solved.

Is there an easy fix?

The NSW Teachers Federation wants the government to hire permanent substitute teachers.

It argues doing so would reduce workload pressures and provide relief support during absences.

“So should a teacher take leave for or attend a professional learning course there is someone that is in the school that can provide that cover and also very familiar to those students in that school and therefore program continuity is a priority,” Mr Rajendra said.

While Ms Car would not be drawn on what further measures the government would take to address the ongoing shortage, she did point to a new teacher pay deal which came into effect this week.

The deal was struck last month and makes NSW teachers the best-paid in the country. 

Both the minister and the union place much of the blame on the previous Coalition government, with Mr Rajendra saying the situation was the result of “12 years of failed education and wages policy” that have left teachers exhausted and facing unsustainable workloads.

But he said fixing the problem was now on the Minns government and it needed to do more than just bump up pay packets.

“In an era of teacher shortages, what that means for those that still remain at school, they’ve got to pick up the load in some way,” Mr Rajendra said.

He added that teachers were “exhausted and burnt out” and that preventing them from leaving the system should be a priority.

“Yes, salaries are important, but so is workload and insecure employment.”

When asked to respond to the criticism directed at it, the state opposition accused Ms Car of resorting to “petty politics” to avoid outlining her plan to fix the problem.

“While the government today may have articulated a problem and got that data from schools, they haven’t actually delivered anything in terms of how they’re planning to address it,” Shadow Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said.

“They came to the election saying they would save the teacher shortage but today the minister won’t put a figure on what that should be … and really has no articulated plan when it comes to bringing more people into that profession,” she said.

National teacher shortage

The teacher shortage is not confined to NSW.

While workload sustainability and concerns around pay have existed for years, additional pressures like the pandemic exacerbated those problems and saw teachers leave the industry.

Last December, the federal government released a National Teacher Workforce Action Plan which set out strategies to address the national shortage.

The plan set out five priority areas to address.

They are to improve teacher supply, ensure teachers are better supported, improve career pathways while reducing workloads, better recognition of the importance and value of the profession, and for there to be better workplace planning to prepare for the future.