Teacher Shortage Solution More Complex Than Just Raising Wages: Education Minister
SYDNEY—Resolving the teacher shortage in New South Wales (NSW) requires a more complex solution beyond just hiring and more wages, hinted Education Minister Sarah Mitchell ahead of the state election.
In an election debate at the Centre of Independent Studies on March 14, Shadow Education Minister Prue Car claimed to solve the teacher shortage was “really simple” while having 2,000 vacant positions was unacceptable.
“For the first time ever in the last 12 months, we’ve seen resignations outstrip retirements, we do not have enough teachers in our classrooms,” she said.
“[Labor] will work straight away from day one if we’re elected to get to the structural systemic reasons why we have such a chronic teacher shortage—uncompetitive pay, overburdening workloads, actually getting more teachers permanent from temporary.”…