The teacher shortage has pushed the federal government to consider sweeping reforms to get more people into the profession or stay longer.
Key Points:
- The federal government will unveil a plan to give some senior teachers a 40% pay rise.
- Under the plan, professionals who want to retrain to become teachers could be paid to learn on the job
- The Australian Education Union said pay rises were needed across the board
Under a plan to be presented to an emergency meeting of federal, state and territory education ministers next week, senior teachers could get a pay rise, while professionals wanting to retrain to become teachers could receive a payment to learn on the job.
But a pay rise wouldn’t be for everyone. So-called “master teachers” or senior teaching positions would have a 40% salary increase.
With more children in school than ever before, but fewer people lining up to become teachers, federal Education Minister Jason Clare said it was time for a change.
“It’s serious and getting worse,” he said.
“It’s not just the flu, it’s not just COVID, it’s bigger than that.”
He said paid teaching internships were on the table for professionals from other industries who were pursuing a two-year master’s degree in education.
“It’s a good idea to get people who are already in the workforce (mid-career professionals) to make the switch in the classroom.”
“If you can bring people who have qualifications into the classroom, that’s good.”
Wage increases are needed “at all levels,” the union says
Mr Clare admitted a higher wage would be a major change, but said it would be discussed.
“One thing is certain, we’re not going to solve this problem by doing the same thing over and over again,” he said.
“We need to look for new ideas that will help, not only to solve the teacher shortage, but also to increase the achievement of our children.”
As for paying for the changes, Clare said the state and federal governments would have to “work together”.
Australian Education Union vice-president Meredith Peace said the paid internship option could work.
He said people with experience in other careers were already benefiting students in classrooms.
But she wasn’t convinced by the idea of head teachers getting big pay raises, arguing that a pay rise for all teachers would be fairer.
“I don’t think it’s a solution to pick a small group of people and give them significant pay increases,” he said.
“This is a much more complex issue than that. We need proper career structures that reward high-performing teachers who want to stay in the classroom.
“We must provide living wages at all levels.”
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