15,000 NSW public school teachers and staff to get permanent jobs in 2023
An ex Western Sydney cop is among 4,500 teaching graduates entering the NSW public school workforce this year— one of 15,000 staff members helping the government exceed its permanent teacher target.
Education
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Fifteen thousand teachers and support staff will be offered permanent positions this year with the Perrottet government announcing it will exceed its own target to get more full-time teachers into schools.
Eleven thousand temporary teachers and 4,000 support staff will be converted into permanent roles in 2023, increasing the permanent teaching workforce by 20 per cent and establishing a new goalpost for the opposition, who previously pledged to meet the government’s original goal of 10,000 new permanent jobs.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said more permanent positions will help ensure teaching remains an attractive career option, despite the Opposition’s “disingenuous scaremongering”.
“We want our staff to have the choice to access the employment certainty of a permanent role or the flexibility of a temporary one,” Ms Mitchell said.
“All the public continues to hear from Chris Minns, NSW Labor and his union mates is how terrible a career in teaching is … (but) every year, we’re ensuring hundreds of new teachers start working in our public schools.”
A record number of newly qualified teachers have received their approval to teach in NSW public schools this year, with 4,500 grads joining the workforce.
The Ponds Network has 61 new teachers appointed to their first permanent role this year, the highest in the state.
25-year-old Jack De La Harpe, 24-year-old Susanna Ngo, 25-year-old Kevin Nguyen and 26-year-old Devinda Senarath are all grateful to be reaping the rewards of a stable job at Galungara Public School in Sydney’s northwest, after filling temporary and casual roles while studying.
Stage two teacher Mr De La Harpe was set on his career path nearly two decades ago, inspired by his own beloved Year 4 teacher, but knew he needed a permanent position.
“I’m getting married soon and moving out, so it feels good knowing I’ve got a bit more job security,” he said.
His colleague Mr Nguyen has been taking temporary jobs for the last four years, and is also glad to finally have a permanent role.
“Stability in the long run is very important. With how unpredictable work can be, having that job security now when it’s available is definitely something I wasn’t going to turn down,” Mr Nguyen said.
Ex-cop Devinda Senarath, meanwhile, took a very different path to his peers.
After working as a general duties police officer in Western Sydney for two years, Mr Senarath decided to go back to uni, tack a Master of Teaching onto his undergrad policing degree, and put the skills he learned in the force – like de-escalation of emotionally charged situations – to better use in the classroom.
“I just felt I had done everything I could as a police officer,” he said.
“I’d served my community, changed lots of lives for the better, and it was just time to move on to bigger and better things.”
As a cop, Mr Senarath was confronted by the social and emotional issues he saw in the young criminals he encountered. But a good education – and good teachers – can help prevent kids entering the justice system in the first place, he said.
“What they need is support. They need to feel like they’re wanted and loved, and as teachers we’re there to help – that’s the most important part,” he said.
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