Teachers Federation members at Pittwater High School on the Northern Beaches have walked off the job over the impact the shortage of casual teachers and school counsellors is having on their school.
NSW Teachers Federation Deputy President Henry Rajendra said staff walked out over the failure of the Education Department to adequately staff public schools.
“Pittwater High School has been unable to cover the classes of absent colleagues with casual teachers and staff are being asked to do additional work to help manage the shortage,” Mr Rajendra said.
“The school has been unable to fill two vacant positions which have been advertised unsuccessfully for the past 18 months.”
“HSC students studying Technical and Applied Studies (TAS) at Pittwater High are going without specialist trained teachers going into the HSC exams.”
“This is unacceptable and the government is on notice. It simply must do better.”
Mr Rajendra said the Gallop Inquiry into the work of teachers found earlier this year that uncompetitive salaries for teachers and unsustainable workloads are leading to teacher shortages.”
“The workloads of teachers have increased every year, but their salaries have fallen every year compared to other professions.”
“You can’t fix the shortages without fixing the wages and workload problem.”
“If we don’t pay teachers what they are worth, we won’t get the teachers we need.”
