industry & reform
‘ A good start ’
More permanent jobs for NSW teachers .
By Laura Mazzitelli
The NSW government will move on its promise to make 10,000 temporary teachers permanent , with a plan to roll out 1400 permanent contracts to public school teachers .
In early May the state government said it will begin reaching out to 250 public school principals , as part of its first step to appoint thousands of permanent teachers , by term three next year .
Around 1400 temporary teachers are likely to be eligible for permanent positions , according to the state premier .
“ The casualisation of teaching has forced thousands of talented teachers to leave the profession ,” Chris Minns said .
“ This will give teachers the job security they need to stay in the profession and help turn around teacher shortages .”
Staff who have worked at one school for at least three years and are still employed at that same school will be eligible in the first stage of the scheme , with the first priority cohort of schools focusing on high-need communities .
Since 2017 , 63 per cent of NSW public school teachers have held permanent roles which has resulted in a drop in staff retention rates .
NSW Teachers Federation Deputy President Henry Rajendra told Education Review this week ’ s announcement was “ a good start to tackling the teacher shortage .”
“ A staggering 78 per cent of people entering the teaching workforce do so on a temporary or casual basis ,” he said .
“ Increasing the number of permanent teachers provides stability for schools and learning continuity for students .”
The state education department will begin offering permanent teaching positions once principals confirm staff eligibility .
The government said the total amount of eligible teachers and support staff who are offered and accept their permanent contracts can expect to begin their permanent position by the beginning of term one 2024 . ■
One word a time
Major $ 2.5M donation to fund literacy clinics in Victoria .
By Laura Mazzitelli .
An Australian university ’ s push to overhaul literacy education has attracted a sizable donation to support evidence-based learning in rural and regional areas .
The Bertalli Foundation donated $ 2.5 million over five years to La Trobe University to help establish literacy clinics for children struggling with reading and writing .
New literacy clinics will be built at La Trobe University campuses . Picture : Julieanne Strachan / News Corp .
The donation will fund research into how rural and regional children are taught during the first three years of school .
“ We know that children who are confident readers are more engaged with their learning have fewer behavioural and emotional problems , are more likely to complete Year 12 , and are less likely to have contact with the youth justice system ,” La Trobe ’ s education faculty head Professor Joanna Barbousas said .
“ Despite increasing awareness of the science of learning approach , many schools are teaching children to read using methods for which the empirical evidence base is weak or non-existent – leaving too many children behind .”
In 2020 , the Standing Committee on Employment , Education and Training issued a report which identified overall lower education attainment rates in Australians from regional and remote areas . The release of the 2022 NAPLAN data also revealed students in regional and rural areas had lower averages in literacy and numeracy than those in metropolitan areas .
Philanthropist Neville Bertalli said he first saw the ‘ incredible difference ’ evidencebased reading and writing programs made while working with Victorian schools .
“ Not only did the children enjoy school more , their NAPLAN results improved ,” he said .
“ We were so excited by these outcomes we wanted to multiply our efforts – and recognised that La Trobe is a leader in this space and has academics with the passion and deep expertise to bring our vision to life .”
Part of the donation will also fund the creation of a Science of Learning Schools ( SoLS ) program .
As part of the initiative , pre-service teachers studying in Victoria will be able to enter a handful of ‘ exemplary schools ’ to gain practical teaching experience . ■
8 | educationreview . com . au