Education Minister defends reduction of teacher admin work

The Education Minister has defended plans to shave more time off teachers’ workloads, as the union disputes claims the burden on its members has been significantly reduced.

The Education Minister has hit back at the ‘unconstructive’ NSW Teachers Federation, after the union slammed as “laughable” claims teachers have had their workload slashed.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell says public school teachers have gained 50 hours back this year, principals 212 hours and non-teaching school staff 71 hours, thanks to a government program cutting back the burden of unnecessary administrative work.

The result exceeds the 2022 goals of the ‘Quality Time’ program by 20 per cent, the minister said.

“Not only have we saved teachers time by scrapping unnecessary tasks, simplifying school budget processes and providing quality-assured teaching resources, we’re also giving teachers more time to prepare quality lessons from next year to support the new curriculum rollout,” Ms Mitchell said.

A new online hub is also being launched this month to combine time-consuming teacher accreditation, professional development and mandatory training into a one-stop-shop, saving teachers a further five hours annually.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell says teachers have saved 50 hours of work this year. Picture: Tim Hunter

However, NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said the timesaving claim is “laughable”, and when two-thirds of teachers report feeling burnt out, “expecting a dashboard to make a difference is a joke”.

“It has taken the government four years to reach what it claims is a saving of one hour a week through changes that do nothing to help teachers such as increasing the size of their email inboxes,” he said.

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said the minister’s plans as ‘a joke'. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“Research conducted by the union earlier this year found teachers are spending more than 15 hours a week on administration and compliance work, and the only true statement the government has made was when the minister admitted in March teachers are drowning in paperwork.”

A September 2021 progress report stated over the last three years, initiatives implemented under the Quality Time Action Plan had seen 10 hours per year removed from teachers’ workloads.

The union’s accusations prompted a swift rebuttal from the Minister, who called on the Teachers Federation to “work constructively” on solutions to the overwork of its members.

“The NSW Teachers Federation are quick to criticise our reforms which have literally saved hours of time for teachers – yet they applauded Chris Minns for his ‘time saving’ commitment, even though NSW Labor merely promised an ‘audit’ of existing policies without providing any detail as to what would be stopped or changed to help reduce teacher and principal workload.

“The union should stop playing politics by attacking and undermining our important work. They need to start working constructively with us on issues they claim matter to their members.”
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns responded by accusing the Education Minister of “denying and ignoring” teachers’ experiences.

“The Department’s own survey data shows that more than half of teachers are burned out by their jobs.

“Instead of denying and ignoring the experience of NSW teachers, the Minister could acknowledge their hard work and effort in holding up our state’s education system in the face of chronic teacher shortages, COVID19, bushfires, floods and drought.”