NSW Education Minister rejects claim sector in crisis after revelation 10,000 teachers left profession last year

More than 10,000 teachers were said to have left the profession last year – but the Education Minister rejected a claim the sector was in crisis.

The NSW Education Minister has rejected a claim the teaching sector is in crisis after figures revealed more than 10,000 experienced teachers in NSW left the profession last year.

Opposition MPs said in a budget estimates hearing on Wednesday the total number of experienced teachers had dropped dramatically in 2021.

Figures presented at the hearing showed experienced teachers dropped from more than 144,000 to about 140,000 in 2021.

However Labor MP Anthony D‘Adam said that figure included about 6,000 teachers who had recently joined the profession, meaning a total of more than 10,000 proficient teachers would have left.

Mr D‘Adam suggested to Minister Sarah Marshall teachers would need to be paid more to solve an ongoing “teacher supply crisis”.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell answered questions at budget estimates on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

“I don't agree with the premise of your question that we have a teacher supply crisis,” Ms Marshall responded.

“We are working extremely hard in terms of our teacher supply strategy both now and into the future.

“We have more teachers employed in public schools at the moment than we've ever had. And I don’t agree with the assertion that we have a crisis, our vacancy rate is incredibly low for an organisation of our size.”

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos told NCA NewsWire that while he couldn‘t comment on the figures from the hearing, he agreed with the assertion teachers need to be offered better pay to retain them.

“We are in the middle of a significant teacher shortage that is about to get worse,” he said.

“What we need to do is address the fundamentals, not only to attract the teachers we need, but to keep ones we have.

“The declining competitive salaries and unsustainable crippling workloads are having a negative impact on the profession — uncompetitive salaries, and unsustainable workloads are a disincentive to attracting teachers and retaining teachers.”

Originally published as NSW Education Minister rejects claim sector in crisis after revelation 10,000 teachers left profession last year