NSW considers fly-in-fly-out teachers to plug regional shortage

A plan to fly staff in and out of regional communities experiencing teacher shortages due to increased sick days is under consideration by the Department of Education. Have your say.

Teachers could be flown into regional communities to provide casual classroom relief under a radical state government plan to fix a staff shortage fuelled by Covid-19 and the early flu season.

The Saturday Telegraph can reveal more than 350,000 sick days have been taken by teachers so far this year, leaving some classes unsupervised and forcing others to be merged.

The figure equates to one week off work for each of the state’s 70,000 full-time teachers and is a significant spike from the 215,000 sick days taken over the same period in 2020.

The crisis has forced the Education Department to consider new approaches to casual teaching.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said a “fly in, fly out” (FIFO) model was among ­options being considered, with respiratory illnesses expected to surge in term three during the height of winter.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell is looking at fly-in, fly-out workers for regional NSW. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles

“For small schools, often with only one teaching principal, finding short-term relief can be especially hard,” Ms Mitchell said.

“We are looking at better ways to provide casual cover in remote areas, including a fly in, fly out model.”

Exact details of how the model would work and when it would be introduced are still under consideration.

The department will continue its teacher supply plan introduced at the beginning of the year that allows retired and future teachers, as well as corporate staff, to sign up to fill vacancies.

“More than 1600 non-school-based teaching and corporate staff who are accredited to teach have been deployed into schools, and 2600 final university-year students have been granted interim teaching approval for casual and temporary teaching,” a department spokeswoman said.

“So far this year, just over 500 previously retired teachers have worked as either a casual ­teacher or on a short-term temporary basis in schools.”

The spokeswoman said more than 100,000 casual teacher bookings had been made via its ClassCover platform so far in 2022, an increase of 20 per cent from the same period last year.

But the NSW Teachers Federation has continued to slam the department for the teacher shortage, blaming the problem on poor pay and crippling workloads.

President Angelo Gavrielatos said the FIFO plan was another Band-Aid fix.

“It appears that the government is intent on rolling out gimmick after gimmick, rather than dealing with substantial, structural issues that have ­created a teacher crisis,” Mr Gavrielatos said.

“In education, continuity and stability is vital for ­students.

“Stability and continuity is only achieved by an adequate supply of teachers who are ­appointed to schools and build that important relationship with students.”

Data released earlier this year revealed up to two-thirds of full-time teachers were considering walking away from the job before retirement.

In a snapshot of the teacher shortage, Armidale Secondary College was left with 12 classes unsupervised on a single day last month after it was unable to cover sick leave.

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