Issues
Urgent action needed on teacher work conditions and salary An NSW inquiry has recommended major changes to the salaries and working conditions of teachers to address a crisis caused by rapidly escalating workloads, uncompetitive salaries and significant teacher shortages. The report of the inquiry, Valuing the Teaching Profession – an independent inquiry, chaired by former WA Premier Dr Geoff Gallop, was released last month. The inquiry was commissioned by the New South Wales Teachers’ Federation (NSWTF). The first investigation of NSW teachers’ work since 2004 found the dedication and commitment of teachers remained high but there had been profound changes in the volume and complexity of their work, leading to unsustainable workloads.
Teachers’ work had increased due to constant policy changes, significant increases in student need, rapid changes in technology, the expansion and frequent reform of the curriculum, new compliance measures, administration, data collection and reporting responsibilities and higher community expectations of what schools and teachers can do, the inquiry found. The extent of change dwarfed that of any other era of investigation dating back to 1970. The inquiry found teachers had not been compensated for the rise in their skills and responsibilities and salaries had declined significantly compared to the average of other professions. “At the same time as these increases in work, complexity and responsibility there has been a decline in the relative position
of teacher salaries alongside that of other professions and a reduced attractiveness of public sector teaching as a career; this being a contradiction that needs urgent attention by way of a significant upgrade in teacher salaries and an improvement in career options,” the report states. Without a significant increase in salaries, the government cannot end teacher shortages or recruit the additional teachers required to meet an enrolment boom in public schools. The inquiry recommended: • Salary increases of between 10 and 15 per cent for NSW public school teachers over the 2022 and 2023 period. • An increase of two hours in the time teachers that have to prepare lessons and collaborate with colleagues. The inquiry found that despite the intensification of teachers’ work, the hours of preparation time had not changed since the 1950s in secondary
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Western Teacher March 2021
