Not only are school facilities in crisis the outlook for teacher numbers takes the current education crisis to depths of despair never experienced in Victoria before.
Schools in disrepair.
Teacher Tribunal not working.
5,000 teachers short by 2028. This new report has been hidden for 6 months. Looking at you Ben Carroll Deputy Premier. In fact this report is a year overdue according the writers at The Age.
Why do Labor ministers, lie, cheat, deceive and obsfuscate on critical issues. Is it a lust for power at the expenses of ordinary citizens?
The Vic Labor government is rotten. Rotten to the core with no plans, no credibility, no accountability and no cash to fix anything, but where would you start anyway.
See report below published in The Age yesterday.
Minister Ben Carroll is clueless and useless.
Victorian school students in the state system are getting a raw deal due to Labor incompetence.
************************************************************************************* Overdue report pinpoints looming shortage of high school teachers ByRobyn Grace
March 20, 2024 — 6.29pm
Demand for teachers is expected to outpace supply at schools and kindergartens in Victoria by 2028, with an expected shortfall of more than 5000 staff largely fuelled by shortages in the secondary sector.
As the teaching crisis continues across the state, the Victorian government’s Teacher Supply and Demand Report 2022 forecasts that demand for teachers across early childhood education and schools will increase by 12.8 per cent by 2028, while supply will increase by only 10.6 per cent.
Victorian high schools have a large teacher shortage forecast but the government says incentives will come to the rescue.CREDIT:ISTOCK
The forecast staff shortage is acute in the secondary sector, where demand will increase by 16.4 per cent and supply by 8.1 per cent.
The report, tabled in parliament on Wednesday and more than a year overdue, confirms a warning from 2021 that the state will soon run short of secondary teachers.
Secondary schools are already being forced to combine and cancel classes and many are running without a full roster of teachers well into the school year.
But the report said the modelling did not include the expected impact of government investments in teaching scholarships, postgraduate and student-teacher placements and initiatives to support early career and returning teachers.
It said those initiatives should create a sufficient supply of recruitable teachers to fill the gap.
Forecast supply for primary teachers is expected to outpace demand to 2028, but the report also forecasts a shortfall of 495 workers in the early childhood sector.
There has been a significant rise in the number of teacher vacancies since 2021, up 49 per cent in the primary sector and 68 per cent for secondary schools.
The number of applications for each vacancy has also dropped overall. The report said government secondary schools received 2.8 applications per vacancy overall, compared to 5.3 for primary schools.
“No appointment” rates have also increased, although the report said this was likely to be partially due to schools posting multiple advertisements to seek an adequate field of candidates for the same underlying role.
The annual Teacher Supply and Demand Reporthad not been released for two years despite bureaucrats usually finalising the key documents in October each year. The 2023 report is yet to be seen.
Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said the figures would mean worse educational outcomes for Victorian students.
“With ever-growing vacancies, fewer applications and more teachers leaving the profession, it is now clear why Labor has kept this report secret for more than a year,” she said.
“This crisis is having a dire impact on students’ ability to learn and maximise their education. Students don’t teach themselves and as a result of Labor’s teacher shortages there are classrooms in Victoria without a permanent teacher.”
Education Minister Ben Carroll said the government’s record investment in school workforce initiatives had put the state in good stead to combat the Australia-wide issue of teacher shortages.
The investments – which had already seen the teaching workforce increase 3.9 per cent between June 2022 and June 2023 – included $93.2 million for 8000 new scholarships for students undertaking secondary school teaching degrees, $32.2 million for paid student-teacher placements and $95.7 million to expand support for early career and returning teachers.
“The Victorian Teacher Supply and Demand Report gives us a detailed look at our growing teaching workforce and will help us identify how we can best grow and support our workforce in the coming years,” Carroll said.
