NSW student teacher ratios ‘worst in nation’: union

There’s a “classroom crisis” in NSW according to the head of the teachers’ union, with new figures revealing the state has the worst student teacher ratio in the country.

There’s a “classroom crisis” in NSW according to the head of the teachers’ union, with new figures revealing the state has the worst student teacher ratio in the country.

NSW public schools had 14.2 students per teacher in 2022, more than government schools in every other state and territory according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released this week.

The average ratio for all Australian public schools was 13.4 students to one teacher.

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said the true ratio was even worse given ongoing teacher shortages.

“The number of students per teacher is above what it was in 2011 when the Coalition took office (14.1) in NSW and since that point we have had significant increases in the number of students with higher needs in public schools,” he said.

“The number of students from language backgrounds other than English has increased by 34 per cent since 2011 and the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander students has increased by 50 per cent. The number of students with disability has doubled since 2016.

“Instead of investing in teachers, we have falling teacher numbers, the worst student/teacher ratio in the country and widespread teacher shortages. Teachers are reporting to us that merged and minimally supervised classes are a daily occurrence.”

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos.Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

By comparison, there were 12.7 students per teacher in Victorian public schools last year; the ratio was 13.2 in Queensland, 13.4 in South Australia, 14.1 in Western Australia and 11.4 in Northern Territory.

However a NSW Department of Education spokesperson said the data in the ABS schools report did not reflect the total number of teachers in the state - crucially it did not include casual or temporary teachers who were backfilling a permanent position.

“Based on the true numbers, NSW has one teacher for every 11.4 students,” education minister Sarah Mitchell said.

“That’s because thanks to the NSW Liberal and National Government’s investment since 2011, we have seen the teaching workforce grow at twice the rate of student numbers, and have almost 95,000 teachers working across our 2200 schools.

“What parents need to know is that NSW public schools have some of the lowest student to teacher ratios in a decade.”

However Labor’s education spokeswoman Prue Car said Ms Mitchell had again tried to deny or downplay the existence of the teacher shortage crisis in NSW by directly contradicting her own department’s figures.

“It is embarrassing for Minister Mitchell to have data from the ABS and her own department directly contradict her,” she said.

“Minister Mitchell can keep trying and trying to deny the existence of the teacher shortage crisis but children and parents know the truth – their schools are suffering from a lack of teachers in classrooms.

“If you keep denying the problem, how can the people of NSW trust that you can fix it?”