The Opposition has called on the Cook Labor Government to address the spiralling rate of teachers leaving the profession.
Shadow Minister for Education Peter Rundle said the Cook Labor Government needed to recognise their lack of support, together with the increasing challenges of additional classroom workloads, administrative duties and dealing with complex behavioural needs has led to a record number of resignations in the profession.
Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education Donna Faragher, who asked Questions in the Legislative Council to the Leader of the House representing the Education Minister, said the figures highlighted an alarming increase in the number of teacher resignations since 2020.
“Since 2020, the number of resignations has increased markedly from 604 to 1,275 in 2022 and the fact that 1,021 teachers have already resigned in 2023 and we still have Term 4 to go is deeply concerning,” Mrs Faragher said.
“If these figures are not a wakeup call for the Cook Labor Government to take immediate action to support principals, teachers and school staff I do not know what is.”
Mr Rundle said if the Department of Education doesn’t address this issue swiftly the system will falter under the weight of teacher attrition.
“Recent reports of teachers who have not been able to access support from the Department of Education, coupled with these statistics, demonstrate a worrying trend in our State Education system,”
“Our teachers are such a valuable resource, educating our next generation of employees and leaders and the Minister needs to step up and provide solutions to stop the number of teachers leaving the profession.”
