‘We’re treading water’: Illawarra teachers ready to rally

Three Illawarra teachers have spoken out ahead of Wednesday’s rally in Sydney with the common theme being the pressure on those in the profession is turning wannabe educators away.

Hundreds of teachers from the Illawarra will be hitting the streets of Sydney on Wednesday as the feud between the NSW Teachers Federation and the state government continues.

It comes five months on from the last statewide protests with the federation calling out the NSW government for “failing to come to the table”.

A key demand from the union is the government overturn the 2.5 per cent salary cap on teachers’ wages, which has been in place for a decade.

The union is demanding a 5 to 7.5 per cent increase in salaries for their members over the next two years as well as an extra two hours of “release time” to plan lessons.

The calls come on the back of internal government figures highlighting the catastrophic teacher shortage across the state where there are 2383 casual vacancies with nearly 200 of those being from the Illawarra’s northern suburbs through to the Victorian border.

One of the educators, who will be making the three-hour return train trip will be Keira High School principal Scott Frazier who has been in the profession since the Sydney Olympics.

Keira High School principal Scott Frazier will be attending Wednesday’s strike. Picture: Dylan Arvela

Mr Frazier, who spent five years in charge of Junee High School in the Riverina before relocating to the Illawarra last year, said the burdens on teachers have mounted year on year.

“Teachers these days have so many more things they need to try and balance than just teaching,” Mr Frazier said.

“There are so many factors such as student wellbeing, mental health, the changing nature of families, mobile phones to name a few.

“Whenever something happens in society, people think the school environment is where it should be addressed because that’s where the kids are, but we’re not properly resourced - we’re treading water.

“Two hours of release time per week would make a massive difference. My staff love supporting kids, but they are struggling to balance themselves.”

Mr Frazier rejected calls from Premier Dominic Perrottet and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell to defy federation officials and abandon the industrial action due to it causing further disruption to students and families after two years of Covid-affected learning.

“This was an issue before Covid, but the pandemic has further exacerbated it,” he said.

“I’ve haven’t had any calls from parents and I take that as a yes they know that it’s happening.

“We are taking this action because we care about our students and our families. The wage cap is well below inflation and it’s leading to fewer people wanting to become teachers.

“We don’t want to have disruptions, but we are already having disruptions and it’s disappointing to hear those comments [from the Premier and Minister Mitchell] when 49 of 50 government MPs have received salary increases well above CPI.”

Russell Vale Primary School’s Di Body has more than four decades of teaching experience, around half of which has been spent in the Illawarra.

Mrs Body told The Illawarra Star the crisis has gradually deteriorated in recent years with the overbearing workload driving teachers away from the sector and, in some cases, forcing students to jam into classrooms.

Experienced Russell Vale primary school teacher Di Body believes the community is behind them. Picture: Dylan Arvela

“Five or six years ago I started to notice the squeeze,” the seasoned educator said.

“I saw young people come in and leave because they realized they could get better money while working less hours elsewhere.

“I have young teachers saying it should be easy because I’ve been teaching for ages, but it’s the hardest it’s ever been given so much more is expected of us.”

“Luckily my school hasn’t been too affected by overcrowded classes, but many to the north and south have and when there’s as many as 35 students in a room it leads to educational compromise.”

Mrs Body said the rally would cause disruptions, but felt the community was on their side.

“Teachers want to make an impact on kids and watch them grow and succeed,” she said.

“Parents know that and they support us because they want trained teachers. Some aren’t happy there is a strike, but they understand why we are doing it.

“There are schools in NSW that are being disrupted week in and week out due to teacher shortages and this is one day to draw attention to it. he government is being unrealistic, they have the documents and they need to come to the table.”

Trent Crowe is still in the fledgling stages of his teaching career, however the Dapto High School science teacher admits the strain put on him and his colleagues has led many to reconsider their future.

Dapto High School teacher Trent Crowe said younger teachers are being pushed away from the profession. Picture: Supplied

“I became a teacher because I am very enthusiastic about biology and science as a whole and I thought I could be of value in terms of sharing that with students,” the fourth-year teacher said.

“I’ve had conversations with teachers who are friends or that I have studied with who have changed or have considered changing professions and using the skills elsewhere.

“I have said why would you go back to uni and retrain since it’s an otherwise noble profession, but I have thought about if the situation was to get worse I might have to consider using my skills elsewhere.”

Mr Crowe, who is the union rep for his school, blasted the controversial NAPLAN test, labelling it as “data gathering” which detracts from teachers delivering the syllabus.

“I have the assumption that teaching would be about building lessons and programs and delivering the syllabus and occasionally doing reports,” Mr Crowe explained.

“But it’s an endless slog of administrivia that doesn’t result in improving a teacher’s of learning outcomes.

“[Teaching to the test] isn’t something I have done, but it’s something that is prevalent. NAPLAN and equivalent tests don’t go towards any form of human achievement, it’s just data gathering.”