Nearly 10,000 New South Wales students are left each day without adequate teaching due to a casual teacher shortage.
A survey by the NSW Department of Education said there was a 42 per cent shortfall in the number of available teachers.
It’s leaving NSW public schools, on average, short of 3,000 casual teachers each day.
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In public schools, 40 per cent of lessons aren’t covered resulting in merged or collapsed classes, while in high schools, 30 per cent of uncovered classes meant students were left with minimal supervision.
Schools in Sydney’s west and south-west, rural and remote locations and schools for specific purposes were feeling the brunt of the shortages.
The shortages were being felt right across the state however, with 90 per cent of schools reporting staff shortages on a given day.
The Teachers Federation said a recent page wage increase agreement reached with the state government would help replenish teacher numbers and help fill the gaps.
NSW Teachers Federation acting president Henry Rajendra said the data “comes as no surprise”.
“The teacher shortage in NSW public schools is a direct consequence of the former government’s wage cap that artificially suppressed teachers’ pay,” Mr Rajendra said.
“The wage cap made the profession less attractive.
“Worse still, and adding to the unattractiveness of the profession, is unmanageable teacher workloads due to the policies of the previous government. The situation was so bad that resignation rates outpaced retirements.”