QUEANBEYAN West Public School staff walked off the job yesterday (May 31) in protest of the pressure put on them due to a “chronic shortage” of teachers in the public education system. 

Deputy president of the NSW Teachers Federation Henry Rajendra said the shortage at Queanbeyan West, like many other schools around the state, means that schools are finding it significantly difficult to replace teachers who are sick.

“Classes have been split on a daily basis, causing disruption to teaching and learning programs at the school,” said Mr Rajendra.

“This is simply unacceptable and places enormous pressure on the staff.”

An inquiry published in February, commissioned by the NSW Teachers Federation, found that uncompetitive salaries and escalating workloads were deterring people from entering the profession. The inquiry recommended salary increases of between 10 and 15 per cent for public school teachers.

A follow up report in April found the state will need to recruit 11,000 teachers by 2031 to keep up with record enrolment growth.

“There are not enough casual teachers available to replace colleagues on leave and it is up to the NSW government to make sure all classes have an appropriately qualified teacher in front of them,” Mr Rajendra said.

“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.”