IEU supports teacher education initiative
The IEU has welcomed the Victorian state government’s announcement that it will subsidise the costs of Victorians who complete a teaching degree and are employed in state secondary schools.
IEU General Secretary David Brear said, “The costs of studying education (particularly during extended unpaid school placements) are a real barrier to entering our profession. We welcome this important measure to support education students and address the teacher shortage crisis.
“Much more is needed though ̶ what we need to see next is a plan for retaining the thousands of teachers leaving the classroom each year as a result of the extraordinary pressures and workload burdens of the job.”
With cost of living pressures so dominant currently, subsidies for tertiary education will hopefully prove attractive to many prospective teachers and help to arrest the decline in enrolment in teacher education courses. Though today’s announcement initially targets state schools, it is notable that teachers brought into education by these means of these scholarships will be available to work in all sectors after two years.
Improving incoming teacher numbers is important, but it is also vital that working conditions in all schools improve to ensure that we don’t continue to lose experienced educators who should be providing the expert mentorship graduates need when they join the workforce.
Earlier this year, The Age reported that one third of of Australian teachers said they “intend to leave the profession before retirement”.
Over 90 per cent of those contemplating leaving said workload was their primary reason for wanting out.
Edmund Misson, deputy chief executive of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, which surveyed 38,000 teachers last year, said teachers most needed action on “workload, reward and recognition”.
The IEU congratulates the Australian Education Union for its successful campaign on the issue, further proof that passionate, expert advocacy from practitioners still has an important role to play in leveraging improved outcomes for teachers, students, and schools.
The IEU looks forward to seeing further measures from governments and employers to foster teaching autonomy, restore the prestige of teaching as a profession, and to remunerate teachers properly so they can afford to live in the same suburbs as their schools.
Last week, the IEUA publicised the sad fact that 90% of advertised teaching jobs are in areas where teachers simply cannot afford to rent or buy a home.
“For new teachers on lower pay rates, or support staff on limited part-time hours, options are especially dire and are leading to unprecedented levels of housing stress,” said IEUA Federal Secretary Brad Hayes.
“School staff are forced to decide between worrying levels of household debt, or alternatively, undertake lengthy daily commutes that exacerbate workload and excludes employees from the very community that supports and services their school.”