Friday, October 16, 2015

NSWTF: Permanent employment benefits students and teachers

By NSW Teachers Federation 14 October 2015

The Sydney Morning Herald today reported on the number of temporary teachers employed in NSW public schools in recent years.

The research report is a timely reminder that permanent employment is a major recruitment and retention incentive for teachers to work in public education, and an important means of ensuring stability and continuity in delivering educational programs for students.

Temporary teachers perform an important role in replacing permanent teachers on leave. In recent years, many temporary teachers have also been employed to deliver additional, special programs for students that have been funded by fixed term government policies such as the National Partnerships.

Implementation of the NSW Gonski agreement means these temporary funding programs have been included into the recurrent funding model for all schools. This provides scope for schools to use the additional needs-based Gonski funding to employ teachers permanently.

The employment of permanent and temporary teachers is regulated through the School Staffing Agreement between the Federation and the Department of Education. This agreement has proven to be vital for ensuring security, equity and stability in teacher supply to all 2200 public schools across NSW. Under this agreement, all students, wherever they live, are provided with a curriculum guarantee delivered by qualified teachers.

Federation will continue to work to ensure that the Staffing Agreement upholds the importance of permanent employment for teachers and students.

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