Victorian public schools short almost 1000 teachers

Public schools will be short almost 1000 teachers when students return next week — with these suburbs reeling the most.

Public schools are short almost 1000 students and school staff at the beginning of the 2023 school year.

Victorian public schools will be short almost 1000 teachers and school staff when students return next week.

The “deeply concerning” teacher shortage impacting the entire nation has left more than 100 primary and secondary schools with 663 teaching roles to be filled, including almost 400 high school teachers and 180 primary school teachers.

It comes after the Herald Sun revealed in December that the Andrews government would ask more than 40,000 registered teachers to return to the classroom – when there were more than 1700 job vacancies in Victoria.

At the time, about 800 retired teachers or those on leave had already signed on to return to work in state schools on a full time, part time or casual basis.

But just 100 additional teachers have agreed to come back to the classroom in the month following the appeal.

566 new teaching roles in state schools have been listed in the past week alone.

The state government made its appeal to teachers to work in state and independent schools, with some schools at one point in desperate need of more than two dozen staff.

The biggest staffing shortfalls remain in Melbourne’s western suburbs and parts of the state’s west, where there are 579 vacancies.

Melbourne’s western suburbs and parts of the state’s west have the biggest staffing shortfalls. Picture: iStock.

There are still 99 vacant roles in schools across Wyndham, and 62 roles in Melton.

While most jobs are in the west, several schools in the southeastern suburbs are looking for several new staff.

Baden Powell P-9 College in Tarneit has six roles available, and there are seven vacancies at Berwick Secondary College and Drouin Secondary College.

Cranbourne East Secondary College is still looking for five staff.

AEU Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said schools in growth corridors, including the western suburbs, were already struggling to keep up with increased demand from the rising number of families in those areas, and the need for additional staff compounded existing shortages.

“It is deeply concerning that many schools, particularly those in suburbs with high population growth, will start the 2023 school year without the permanent teachers they need to staff their programs,” she said.

Ms Peace called on the state and federal government to provide more funding for public schools, where resources were more thinly stretched than independent schools, and more respect for teachers to keep existing staff in the profession for longer while attracting more graduates to the role.

“We must ensure that we can attract and retain the staff needed so that every student has a fully qualified teacher in their classroom.”

A Department of Education spokesman said an additional 5000 teachers had registered in Victoria by the end of last year compared to 2020, when there were 136,470 registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching.

“The overwhelming majority of government schools are fully staffed for the start of the school year and the delivery of school programs are expected to continue as normal,” he said.

This year’s state budget included $779m to recruit 1,900 additional teachers, and another $58.9m over four years to attract and train new teachers in all schools.