The Ministry of Education in New South Wales (NSW), Australia’s most populous state, has released data detailing why teachers quit their jobs, showing a steady increase in the number of full-time teachers in public schools since 2017. shows that it is increasing.
Over the same period, the number of retired teachers decreased from 2017 to 2020 and stabilized in 2021.
In 2021, the number of retirees will exceed the number of retirees, with 1,159 retiring and 1,142 retiring.
Data seen by AAP was provided to NSW Council during a recent investigation into the state’s teacher shortage.
Education and Early Learning Minister Sarah Mitchell accused the opposition of spreading misconceptions about the education sector and misinterpreting data.
“The basic fact is that there are almost 10,000 more teachers in the system compared to 10 years ago,” Mitchell told AAP.
While school enrollment increased by only 7.6%, the workforce increased by 15%, she said.
“Workers are looking forward to their election promises to cut teacher numbers and school funding because they clearly believe that more funding and more teachers are the problem,” she said. rice field.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Education said the figures were taken out of context and therefore inaccurate.
The size of NSW’s teacher workforce (more than 92,000) means a large number of teachers join and leave each year, the spokesperson said.
Nearly 5,500 teachers will be employed in 2021, a 45% increase from the previous year.
2021 retention rates may have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions and requirements.
NSW teachers have the second highest public service retention rate after the police.
But Angelo Gabrielatos, president of the New South Wales Teachers Federation, said the AAP’s resignation was due to burnout.
He says teachers are lumped in with excessive paperwork, often clocking in at 50 or 60 hours per week.
“This is a crisis and all forecasts point to the situation getting worse,” Gabrielatos said.
“Teachers now have two jobs: one is enrolled teaching and the other is a mandated job called administration.”
Gabrielatos said it was important for the government to raise wages and cut administrative duties to retain teachers.
Teachers in NSW staged a protest in Sydney on Wednesday to urge the government not to lock in a three-year bonus of 2.53% per annum.
Due to cost-of-living pressure and inflation of around 6%, the union claims the award will cut teachers’ salaries.
The shadow education minister, Prue Kah, said teacher turnover was high as they struggled with unmanageable workloads.
New South Wales Labor leader Chris Minnes said the data showed the government had failed to implement policies to encourage teachers to stay in the classroom.
“This data shows in black and white the failure of the liberal New South Wales government to retain teachers effectively,” Mins said Friday.
“This government failure has led to teachers leaving in droves, and it is our children’s education that is suffering as a result.”
Factbox:
Full-time public school teacher quits
retirement and retirement
2017
649–1836
2018
726 – 1565
2019
812 – 1320
2020
929 – 1088
2021
1159-1142
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Australian Associated Press is an Australian news agency.