School scramble to fill classrooms with teachers before 2023

Demand for teachers has surged by almost 40 per cent in Victoria as schools scramble to fill positions before 2023.

Schools are scrambling to fill teaching positions before term 1 2023, with job listings for Victorian roles spiking by almost 40 per cent in the past year.

According to employment website Seek, listings for available roles in the education and training sector have risen by 37.9 per cent in the past year.

There are about 3800 roles being advertised on the site.

More than 1600 jobs in public schools have been listed by the state government in the past week alone.

Schools most desperate for staff include Broadmeadows Special Developmental School, in need of 12 staff, Benalla P-12 College which is looking for 11 staff and Berwick Secondary College where there are 10 vacancies.

Victoria has reported one of the biggest spikes in demand in the country, behind only NSW and the ACT, according to new data from employment website Seek.

Special needs teachers, education aides and management roles such as principals are in highest demand, making up about 58 per cent of Seek job ad growth since December last year.

It comes as Education Ministers around the country work to address the national shortage gripping the sector.

Lack of respect for teachers and crippling workloads are major factors driving teachers away from classrooms.

Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals president Colin Axup said subjects could be scrapped in some schools, particularly in rural areas, if roles were not filled because finding enough staff had remained a “huge challenge” this year.

“There’s certainly a staffing challenge in all government schools,” Mr Axup said.

“It may mean combined classes or being able to run some subjects. Schools are doing everything they can to be ready for the start of next school year with the staffing profile that they have.

“The issue of teacher numbers and recruiting teachers has been an issue that’s been around for a while, but this has been exacerbated by Covid.”

Schools across Victoria have up to 12 positions vacant ahead of the 2023 school year.

Monash University’s Australian Teachers’ Perceptions of their Work Report, released in October, showed that three in four Australian teachers felt the public did not respect their job.

Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said a survey conducted by the union found that 90 per cent of Victorian public school principals were “gravely concerned” there won’t be enough teachers for every classroom by 2023.

“Principals are alarmed by the lack of applicants for advertised positions and that some of them have had unfilled vacancies for teaching and support staff positions all year,” she said.

Federal president Correna Haythorpe said ensuring fair funding for schools around the country would help address the shortage.

The Victorian Department of Education is working with its interstate counterparts on the national Teacher Workforce Action Plan with federal Education Minister Jason Clare, which is designed to entice more workers into the teaching sector and lift the teaching profession’s public profile.

A spokesman for the department said: “Government schools are planning for the employment of an additional 1,900 extra teachers to reduce face-to-face teaching hours and provide teachers more time for planning, preparation, assessment and developing teaching practices.”

The Herald Sun revealed in June that one in five Victorian teachers left the field within five years of graduating.

The federal government also predicts a shortfall of about 4000 teachers in Australia by 2025.