Compulsory vaccination edict for Victorian teachers, childcare workers expected

Teachers and early childhood educators will have to have the Covid jab to keep working, with authorities setting a big target before the end of the year.

Teachers and early-childhood educators will be subject to mandatory vaccinations, with key sector stakeholders expecting the edict to be announced within days.

Education Minister James Merlino is expected to announce the move this week as parents and teachers grapple with the reality of a staggered return to school outlined in the reopening road map.

High-level education department draft planning documents, seen by the Herald Sun, reveal hopes 80 per cent of school staff will be fully vaccinated by the end of the year.

An industry insider said the mandate had not “come as a surprise to anyone”.

The Herald Sun has been told chief health officer Brett Sutton is considering the mandate and is expected to make his declaration in coming days.

Education Minister James Merlino will on Tuesday expand on the state’s road map to get kids back to school. He said last week: “A requirement for vaccination of teachers will be important to stop the spread and protect our kids.”

Mr Merlino last week surveyed school staff anonymously across the state asking their “vaccination status”.

Teachers will be subject to mandatory vaccinations.

Neither the Australian Education Union nor the Independent Education Union would comment on the move, but both said they supported a safe return to schools.

Early-learning groups broadly support the move because it will encourage more parents to return to childcare.

It comes as educators and parents are concerned some measures foreshadowed in Sunday’s road map will be difficult to implement.

Year 11s doing a VCE subject want to be able to stay at school for the day or return to school full-time along with the year 12s. Teachers are concerned about the effect of travelling back and forth for just one lesson.

Families with children spread across year levels are also worried they’ll be doing the school run for different kids on different days while homeschooling others.

Tyabb real estate agent and mother of five Natalie Robinson, 38, said the staggered return to school, which will mean most year levels only attend on-site for two days a week, will be a “nightmare”.

“It will be a lot of back and forth and hard to juggle with working full-time,” she said.

Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said Premier Dan Andrews could “be more flexible in allowing schools to open earlier in areas where Covid is very low, particularly when we hit the 70 per cent target”.