NSW govt claims credit for drop in teacher vacancies

The NSW Government is claiming credit for a 61% drop in teacher vacancies, saying that recent initiatives have driven the change.

According to the Government, NSW public schools started Term 3 in July with 962 permanent teacher vacancies, a significant drop from the 2,460 vacancies extant at the same time in mid-2022 and 3,311 in late-2022.

“This is a step in the right direction. I’ve always said you can’t replace a teacher in front of the classroom,” said the Premier, Chris Minns.

“We know there’s still work to do, but fewer vacancies means more consistency for students and less strain on schools.

“We scrapped the unfair wages cap, we’re making more roles permanent, and we’ll keep doing the work to rebuild public education properly.”

The Government says the improvement means that the number of permanent teacher vacancies is at its lowest level in four years.

The NSW Government says the result comes partly from its decision to “scrap the unfair wages cap that held teacher salaries back and devalued the profession for more than a decade”.

The number of schools affected by permanent teacher vacancies has fallen, too, to 566 schools — which represents a quarter of the state’s 2,200 public schools. The number of schools reporting a vacancy in Term 3 in 2022 was 1,383.

Electorates with the fewest vacancies include Kiama and Lane Cove, each of which reported just a single vacancy at the beginning of Term 3, and Castle Hill, Drummoyne, Heathcote, Cronulla and Vaucluse, each of which reported two vacancies.

The NSW Department of Education says it has “ramped up” efforts to provide dedicated support for schools facing recruitment problems.

The Priority Recruitment Support initiative has been almost doubled, from 79 to more than 150 schools, with 75% of those being in regional and rural areas.

The Government says that, over the past year, 6,398 permanent teachers have been appointed and resignation and retirement rates have fallen.

While there is more work to do, the reduction in vacancies is a demonstration of the Minns Labor Government’s commitment to rebuild public education, value the teaching profession and lift student outcomes.

“There is still more work to do, but the 60% reduction in teacher vacancies is a clear demonstration of the Minns Labor’s Government commitment to rebuilding public education,” said the Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning, Courtney Houssos.