State announces new pathways to becoming a teacher

Academics, high-performing professionals and subject matter experts will be encouraged to choose teaching as a new career, thanks to the State Government’s new approach to hiring teachers.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal, Adam Crouch, said the radical overhaul of how mid-career teaching entrants are employed would help to improve teacher quality.

“New pathways into secondary school teaching will be created on the basis of a person’s knowledge and expertise, and depending on their previous experience, will be in front of a class and earning a salary within six months,” Crouch said.

“This compares to the two years of study which is currently required for someone to reskill as a teacher.

“This change will attract more highly skilled people to the teaching profession, and is part of the NSW Government’s focus on four areas of reform, including removing barriers to entry to the teaching profession, bringing trainee teachers into the classroom faster, supporting people transition from another career into a teaching career and incentivising the transition from another career into a teaching career.”

Minister for Education, Sarah Mitchell, said NSW has the highest standards in Australia when it comes to who can become a teacher.

“This reform keeps these standards in place, whilst recognising that prior experience and expertise in key learning areas should be acknowledged,” Mitchell said.

“We know that by being flexible in providing people with tailored education and training programs based on their personal circumstances, we will attract more people to the teaching profession.”

The reforms are in line with recommendations in the NSW Productivity Commission’s recent White Paper, which found that teacher quality could boost the State’s productivity.

Consultation with stakeholders will inform the delivery of the reforms.

Source:
Media release, Jun 16
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch