By Matthew Sims
The Australian Education Union [AEU] Victorian branch has released a survey of its public schools which has revealed more than 80 per cent of all principals surveyed said it had become “much harder“ to fill staffing vacancies in the past year.
AEU Victoria president Meredith Peace said more needed to be done to combat the issue of teacher shortages across public schools.
“The Andrews government must act boldly and immediately to address the shortage to avoid a disaster,“ she said.
“The state government’s obligation to ensure all children can access high quality public education must be matched by investment in the profession.
“Principals worrying about not having enough teachers and staff to fill classroom vacancies by next year shows just how acute the teacher shortage crisis is a reality.“
The survey also highlighted that almost 50 per cent of the principals surveyed across Victoria said they were “greatly concerned“ about their ability to fill teacher vacancies for the start of the 2023 school year.
Altona Meadows teacher Hannah* said she had been considering leaving teaching altogether due to the pressures of the job.
“It’s been very overwhelming in the sense that because there’s such limited staff, we’re forced to work extra to cover other classes,“ she said.
“The school has done an awesome job in hiring more staff, but it’s just not enough.
“There’s loads of work outside of school as well, a lot of planning, a lot of responding to emails, contacting parents about an incident that happened throughout the day.“
Hannah said she would value having extra team members and aides on hand to allow her to have a break.
Education Minister Natalie Hutchins said the state government was working to address the current workforce issues.
“We’re working closely with education ministers across Australia to develop national solutions to support the recruitment and retention of teachers and we are already taking action,“ she said.
* Name changed
