Teacher shortages in the NSW bush and Gilgandra High at crisis point

One teacher to 50 kids, students supervised in the playground and history teachers running maths classes — this is the reality of teacher shortages in the bush and schools are demanding action.

AS bush schools struggle with an ongoing crisis, teachers at Gilgandra High gave Education Minister Sarah Mitchell an ultimatum – you have one week to fill the vacancies or staff will take matters into their own hands.

The letter, penned by NSW Teachers Federation members, revealed the extent of the teacher shortage at the central west school, with classes regularly merged and others cancelled, leaving 50 or more students supervised by a single teacher.

The school has 21 teaching positions and 10 are vacant or being filled by executive or support staff.

Staff have also taken on relieving roles as head teachers, often in areas outside their expertise. “Because of the vacancies we have to carefully consider and reduce the curriculum we can offer,” NSWTF Gilgandra delegate Bree Patton said.

“We have to merge classes into single classes, such as two courses in Year 10 maths in the same room.

Gilgandra teacher Bree Patton.

Gilgandra High School.

In the letter to Ms Mitchell, the teachers condemned the “critical issues” underpinning the statewide staffing crisis.

They will meet on Wednesday to consider the minister’s response and may strike.

“We feel undervalued because we’ve been calling out for help for two or three years,” Miss Patton said.

“Kneejerk, Band-Aid solutions are of no benefit. Despite having priority recruitment support, not one position has been filled through this process. And, despite being more than five hours from Sydney we don’t get the same benefits and incentives as other schools with a similar demographic and location to attract teachers.”

It’s a similar story at other schools in country NSW.

On March 2, teachers from Merriwa Central School in the Upper Hunter walked off the job and took part in a rally to highlight ongoing teacher shortages, claiming they remained six teachers short of the school’s full complement of 30. A week prior, the school’s NSWTF members had warned of further action in their own letter to Ms Mitchell.

Last month, Muswellbrook High union members held a snap rally outside the school, after asking the Minister to urgently fill the eight vacancies. Teachers there regularly instruct classes of up to 50 students and every fortnight, they claim, more than 200 lessons are taught by teachers outside their area of qualification and expertise.

Dubbo high school teacher and union delegate Brayden Holland said there were 13 vacancies at his school.

Dubbo teacher, and union delegate, Brayden Holland says ongoing teacher vacancies are hard to fill. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Mr Holland said it was like “tapping a dry well” trying to get staff, with fewer graduates and more veteran teachers leaving the profession. “We’ve had cases of minimal supervision where two teachers have had to oversee 234 students – one third of that school’s enrolment,” he said, adding bullying and violence thrived under those conditions.

“We get into this job because we care about these kids so it’s disheartening to know you’re trying your hardest, your colleagues are trying their hardest, yet it’s government letting the kids down.”

NSWTF president Angelo Gavrielatos said the state government had “misled the public” and covered up data on the true extent of the teacher shortages and the number of classes being merged or left without teachers: “This teacher shortage crisis is not only impacting student learning. It is also having a negative impact on student wellbeing, behaviour and attendance”.

In February, the education department told a parliamentary inquiry into teacher shortages that the number of vacancies in the state’s public schools had fallen to 2168 as of January 30.

According to Ms Mitchell, the Gilgandra, Muswellbrook and Merriwa schools all have more teachers than their enrolment-based entitlement, when temporary teachers were taken into account.

Ms Mitchell said the teachers’ union was “peddling a calculated scaremongering campaign”.

“Half of public schools have no vacancies and a quarter have only one,” she said, adding there was a “range of measures” to attract teachers to regional areas – from generous incentives to support for buying a home.

“As a regional public school parent myself, I know our public schools are great,” she said.

“Our regional communities are some of the best places in the state to live, work and raise a family, and the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government will continue to encourage and support teachers and other key workers in our great regional and rural communities.”