NSW Labor has initiated a new Parliamentary inquiry into the chronic teacher shortage, with more than 2,300 vacancies in the state’s schools, many of them across the Central Coast.
President of the Ettalong Woy Woy Teachers Association, Christopher Wright, said the NSW Government has failed to genuinely address the teacher shortage, which is affecting the teaching profession across the state.
“An inadequate government response to the public sector wage dispute that leaves teachers and other public sector workers effectively with a wage cut, combined with an unsustainable and constantly increasing workload, ensures that the teacher shortage will be an ongoing and worsening crisis if the current situation is allowed to continue,” Wright said.
“While teachers’ pay is going down, the only thing going up is teachers’ workload.
Wright said the problem will not go away if the government continues to ignore it.
“There must be change.
“A Parliamentary Inquiry to examine the teacher shortage in NSW would be absolutely welcome as a means of shining a genuine light on this crisis.
Teachers across the Central Coast joined their colleagues in the NSW Teachers Federation and the Independent Education Union in Newcastle and Sydney in industrial strikes on Thursday, June 30.
Member for Gosford, Liesl Tesch, said ongoing pay disputes will only worsen the crisis as the Liberal Government refuses to budge on the matter.
“As a former teacher, I understand the challenges and frustrations that our teachers face, as well as the lack of respect we feel from a Government that takes us for granted,” she said.
“I have worked tirelessly in trying to resolve this crisis for our teachers and our children, and I am hopeful that NSW Labor’s efforts to initiate a Parliamentary inquiry will go some way in responding to the staff shortages, overcrowded classrooms, and the exhausting demands that are placed on our valuable teachers.”
Teachers can make submissions at https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=2882#tab-submissions.
Source:
Media release, Jun 24
Member for Gosford, Liesl Tesch