NSW Department of Education staff asked to teach amid shortages

The Department of Education has issued an ‘SOS’ to staff as it prepares for the possibility of a teacher shortfall next month.

Former teachers who escaped schools to become back-office bureaucrats at the Department of Education are being recruited back into the classroom in a bid to fill an anticipated workforce shortage created by a looming vaccine mandate for school staff.

A NSW Department of Education memo sent to staff this week said anyone who was qualified to teach could “volunteer” to be sent back into schools to fill any shortfall of teachers from November 8 when all teachers in schools are required to be fully vaccinated.

“The department is preparing for the possibility of reduced staffing levels in some schools, including where staff are in the process of being fully vaccinated, establishing their medical exemption, quarantining, accessing approved leave due to COVID-19 or not intending to be vaccinated,” the note from chief people officer Yvette Cachia said.

“The department is seeking volunteers from non-school based teaching staff; principals, school leadership; and corporate staff who are fully vaccinated, accredited to teach and have a current WWCC (Working With Children Check) to help where they can.”

One principal said bureaucrats had little idea of what life in today’s classrooms was like. Picture: iStock

The memo said the Department would cover the cost of travel and accommodation within reason if relocating to regional areas was required.
It said positions would be for the remainder of term four but could last for longer in other cases.

NSW Upper House MP Mark Latham called on the Education Department to simply let unvaccinated teachers use Rapid Antigen Testing to show they did not have Covid before the school day, as was the current practice in NSW Parliament.

“It seems a panic move that will damage and disrupt student learning, in some schools very seriously,” he said.

“The Government has had at least four months to get ready for this and now, at the last minute, they are calling for ‘volunteers’.”

Despite Tuesday’s invitation to bureaucrats to head back into the classroom, a NSW Department of Education spokesman played down the possible shortage.

“As a contingency, the department has asked its corporate staff with teaching credentials to register in case schools need extra support to manage staffing,” he said.

“This is most likely to occur when teachers have to self-isolate as they wait for a Covid test result. We don’t expect this option to be necessary.”

A Department of Education spokesman said the office staff would also help schools where there was a Covid outbreak. Picture: iStock

“Of those who have attested their status in the Department system, 97 per cent of our teaching staff and 96 per cent of our total school workforce are fully vaccinated.”

There are 10,770 part-time and 53,280 full-time teachers in the public system, meaning if just two per cent of them are not vaccinated, there will be an instant shortfall of 1281 teachers.

Secondary Principal Council president Craig Petersen said while the number of anti-vaxxer teachers was low, reports from principal colleagues said some schools would struggle to get teachers because there was already a shortage of substitute teachers.

“Part of the problem is that there is such a shortage of casual teachers around that even if there are only one or two teachers who need to be replaced, that will be a challenge in some areas,” he said.

“We have a staff shortage, so a lot of casuals are being booked up to do temporary work for unfilled vacancies, then we have the Covid intensive learning support (tutoring) program which is a great program but it is tying up some of the casuals.”

He said there was no specific hotspot of anti-vaxxer teachers in NSW but said they were spread evenly around the state.

“I am getting reports from people all over the place … the North Coast, parts of Sydney, the Central West and the Riverina — there are pockets everywhere,” he said.

Another principal said it was unlikely the bureaucrats would be successful because they usually left for office jobs because they couldn’t handle the classroom.
But he quipped it could be good for policy development because it meant bureaucrats might find out what actually went on in classrooms.

“It will be great for them to see what actually happens in a school these days — working in a school for a term once every few years should be compulsory so they don’t make silly policies,” he said.