Victorian teachers sacked for failing to meet standards

Victorian teachers are being sacked for failing reading, writing and maths tests, with teaching graduates failing the test at a rate of one in 10.

Victorian teachers are being pulled out of their classrooms after failing literacy or numeracy tests.

At least two teachers have had their registrations cancelled because of new federal government rules requiring them to pass a test, aimed at lifting teacher standards.

One in 10 teaching graduates fail the test.

Teaching students must pass the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (LANTITE) at the end of their degrees.

Those who were set to graduate when the test was introduced in 2016 were given provisional registration, which allowed them to teach but gave them two years and three months in which to sit the test.

That time has now expired and one in 50 of those teachers have failed and been taken out of schools.

One in 10 teaching graduates fail the government’s literacy and numeracy test. Picture: Stock image

Last week, Caitlin Pryer lost her fight in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to have her teaching registration reinstated. Despite failing the maths component, she took the Victorian Institute of Teaching to the tribunal, which ruled it had no jurisdiction.

There was no requirement for universities, who continued to be paid tuition fees, to assist students to pass the test.

Another Victorian teacher who had been working since 2017 under a provisional registration, but failed the maths test, was pulled out of her grade 3 classroom last term to the dismay of students and parents.

AEU Victorian president Meredith Peace. Picture: Sarah Matray

Primary teacher John Exton said he was “flabbergasted when she told me she’d no longer be teaching”.

“Her kids absolutely adore her, she’s a great teacher,” he said.

“To me, it’s overkill.”

Mr Exton said the tests should be an entrance requirement for a teaching degree, rather than completed on exit.

“There are people who have finished their degrees with high distinctions in every subject and they didn’t pass the test,” he said.

“If people haven’t been successful, it is incumbent on the government to bring them up to standard.”

The Australian Education Union’s Victorian president Meredith Peace said the union supported high entry standards and “it is very important that the demand for teachers at a time of growth is not used as a reason to reduce these standards”.

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Education Minister James Merlino said the government was “committed to increasing the supply of high-quality teachers for Victoria’s schools”.

“Outside of the home environment, the quality of teaching makes the single biggest difference to a student’s educational outcomes,” he said.

Teaching students can attempt the LANTITE literacy and numeracy tests up to four times each at a cost of $98.

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