Teachers Federation members at Mudgee High School have walked off the job over the negative impact the state-wide teacher shortage is having on their school.
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NSW Teachers Federation Deputy President Henry Rajendra said staff walked out in frustration at the shortage of casual teachers and insufficient access to school counsellors.
"Our members at Mudgee High are concerned about the salaries and working conditions of teachers which have made it difficult for the school to attract and retain staff," Mr Rajendra said.
This follows the walk-out at Gulgong's High School on Wednesday, 16 June which was also in protest of the ongoing staffing crisis.
Mr Rajendra said staff walked out because the Education Department had failed to adequately address the state-wide staffing crisis which had negatively impacted teachers' workload and well-being.
"Our members at Gulgong High are concerned that teaching and learning programs at the school have been heavily disrupted by the staffing crisis," Mr Rajendra said.
Mr Rajendra said the Gallop Inquiry into the work of teachers found earlier this year found that non competitive salaries for teachers and unsustainable workloads are leading to teacher shortages.
"The workloads of teachers have increased every year, but their salaries have fallen every year compared to other professions. You can't fix the shortages without fixing the wages and workload problem."
NSW Teachers Federation country organiser Kelly Anderson said the issue has ramped up in regional areas, to the point where teachers feel they have to into work while sick because there is no one to replace them.
It's setting people up to fail because they would essentially go through a six-month crash course in being a teacher.
"This issue means that classes get split among a number of teachers, and each teacher takes a few extra children in each room. That affects the kids in the class, and the teacher who has to teach a range of extra students. In high schools some classrooms receive minimal supervision, there might be one teacher and a large number of students, so quality teaching isn't occurring as much as the teachers would like," she said.
This week, the NSW Government announced a scheme to fast-track people into secondary school teaching positions within six months, depending on their knowledge and pre-existing teaching expertise.
Ms Anderson said the answer to solving the staffing shortage doesn't lie in fast-tracking.
"It's setting people up to fail because they would essentially go through a six-month crash course in being a teacher. That's not sustainable and it's going to make greater issues around the State in terms of not being able to support new teachers coming into the system. It's a band-aid solution," she said.
"At the end of the day, every kid that attends a public school deserves a quality teacher, and the Government's quick solutions don't go far enough."
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