NSW Libs and workers pledge to back teachers

Thousands of NSW teachers will be moved from temporary positions to full-time positions under a pledge announced simultaneously by the state government and opposition parties.

Two major political parties on Sunday accused each other of copying policies as they pledged to move 10,000 staff into continuing roles to address staffing shortages ahead of state elections in March.

The government said it would provide permanent positions for temporary teachers and support staff in areas of need to increase the number of classrooms.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the issue had been raised by both teachers and principals, adding that progress was being hampered by current agreements with unions.

“The Department of Education is working to identify temporary role teachers and support staff who can transition,” she said.

“At least 10,000 roles have been identified, and the department plans to work directly with principals to identify more.”

Opposition leader Chris Mings delivered a speech at the Labor State Conference on Sunday, confirming his party’s pledge to create more than 10,000 permanent teaching jobs by shifting temporary jobs to permanent jobs. It has started.

“There can be no situation where a teacher leaves school because he doesn’t know if he will get a job next semester or next year,” he said.

Labor education spokeswoman Prue Carr accused the coalition of duplicating the opposition’s approach, but Mitchell told ABC it was a case of labor “copying our homework.” .

Government schemes differ in including supporting staff in the permanent position commitment.

Recent NSW statistics show that more public school teachers are retiring, with the number of retired teachers in 2021 surpassing the total number of retired teachers.

Ms Mitchell disputes the validity of the numbers, saying the state’s education workforce has grown about twice as fast as enrollment over the past decade.