NSW government recruits 5000 casual teachers, school staff in 2022

A desperate plea to retirees and university students has seen more than 5,000 people take up the call to join NSW public schools’ staff pool, but Labor says casuals alone won’t fix the shortage.

24-year-old teaching student Emma Rimac is one of thousands of near-graduates taking up casual posts amid the teacher shortage crisis. Picture: Damian Shaw

The government’s desperate plea to backfill a shortage of public school teachers was answered by more than 5000 retired teachers, school staff and final-year teaching students in 2022.

The NSW government has recruited more than 670 recent retirees and 4,500 final-year Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students for their casual pool since the “buffer” program to cope with a Covid wave was announced in January last year.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the program’s success helped boost school resilience and minimise the disruption to students throughout the year.

“A massive thank you to the more than 5,000 people who took up the call to support our public schools during what was a challenging period due to COVID-19,” Ms Mitchell said.

“Having final year trainee teachers in our schools sooner is something the NSW Liberals and Nationals Government is continuing to focus on. It not only provides our schools with additional resources, but also provides the trainee teachers with invaluable hands-on experience early, especially in our regional and remote schools,” she said.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell thanked the thousands of teachers who answered her government’s call. Picture: Tim Hunter

A NSW Department of Education spokesperson said like most employers at the time, public schools were dealing with large numbers of staff calling in sick simultaneously.

“To support public schools across NSW manage staffing impacts related to COVID-19, we implemented a number of initiatives. This included, but was not limited to, contingency arrangements for recently retired school staff and final year students.”

However, the interim approvals granted to teaching students have a 12-month expiry, meaning the new graduates will not be automatically approved to continue working. Instead, they’ll need to reapply to the graduate recruitment program.

The opposition said having casual teachers plug the gaps is not a long-term solution to the shortage, matching the Coalition’s pledge to create 10,000 permanent teaching positions.

“Calling up retired teachers isn’t enough to fix the systemic teacher shortages across NSW,” Labor leader Chris Minns said.

Shadow education minister Prue Car raised concerns about the temporary nature of approvals.

NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

Labor’s education spokesperson Prue Car. Picture: Damian Shaw

“Many of these casuals only have interim approval, and without a long-term recruitment plan our schools will continue to experience shortages,” she said.

“After the disruption of the past few years, the best thing we can do for student outcomes is ensure they have a permanent teacher in front of their classroom every day.”

24-year-old student teacher Emma Rimac has been working full-time throughout her degree, including two placements at Denistone East Public School in Sydney’s north last year.

She was granted interim approval to teach in October, and was immediately snapped up by her placement school’s principal to start in a permanent position as a Kindergarten teacher this year while finishing her degree at the same time.

Denistone East Public School Kindy teacher Emma Rimac got her start as one of 4,500 final-year teaching students granted interim approval to teach. Picture: Damian Shaw

“As soon as you tell the school you have your teaching number, it’s ‘come in for an interview, here’s a contract, can you sign it today’,” Miss Rimac said.

Young teachers who want to remain casual often aren’t so lucky, she explained: ironically, “it’s kind of hard to get your foot in the door,” because the pool of casual staff has grown so large.

“As soon as you click ‘accept’, within that 30 seconds the job listing has already been filled. If you’re not proactive, it’s gone,” she said.

“There’s so many jobs, but there’s not enough schools who are willing to keep you on their personal books.”

Denistone East principal Michelle Collyer said her decision to continue running university placements and “fast-track” new teachers prevented her school from experiencing the worst of the shortages.

“We decided to be courageous … and I think that worked in our favour in the end,” she said.