NSW calls on federal government to fund paid practicum places for teachers, nurses

‘Nobody should endure poverty to qualify for a profession like teaching.’ States are pressing the federal government to fund paid practicum placements for trainee teachers and nurses.

Trainee nurses would be paid for up to 800 hours of on-the-job training in hospitals, under reforms to be discussed by the federal, state and territory governments. Picture: iStock

The biggest state government has poured cold water on expectations that it pay for trainee teachers and nurses to work up to 800 hours in public schools and hospitals.

NSW Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car said the commonwealth was responsible for funding university “prac’’ placements, and her government had already funded pay rises for public school teachers.

“We strongly support teachers being the best prepared for the classroom of the 21st century and that includes undertaking their practicum in a school setting,’’ she said on Tuesday.

“However, the conversation between the commonwealth and state governments about how to fund it has yet to take place.

“Higher education course funding is a commonwealth responsibility. Our government has already delivered a once-in-a-generation pay rise.”

NSW Minister for Education and Early Learning, Prue Car, says the commonwealth should pay for trainee teachers to undertake paid practicum placements in schools.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare on Tuesday threw his support behind the Universities Accord – the government’s sweeping review of higher education – to pay university students for mandatory on-the-job training in schools and hospitals.

He said some students were required to undertake 1000 unpaid hours of work experience, plunging them into poverty as they had to give up part-time jobs.

“I’ve spoken to lots of teaching students, lots of nursing students about what is effectively placement poverty,’’ he said.

“(Practicum placements are a) big part of your degree. For a teaching student, it’s 600 hours; for a nursing student, it’s 800 hours; for a social work student, it’s even more, about 1000 hours.

“It can mean that you have to move (towns or cities) to do the prac. It can mean that you have to quit the paid part-time job to do the unpaid prac and it can lead to people sometimes not finishing the degree.’’

Questions remain over who will pay trainee teachers for mandatory practicum placements at university.

Teacher unions on Tuesday demanded governments fund the “long overdue reform’’ to address the crippling teacher shortage.

“Nobody should endure poverty and financial hardship to qualify for a profession like teaching, which has such profound social purpose,’’ NSW Teachers Federation deputy president Amber Flohm said.

The Independent Education Union’s Queensland and Northern Territory branch warned that trainee teachers from poor backgrounds can’t afford to undertake practicums that “take students away from the part-time jobs required to support themselves”.

Queensland Education Minister Di Farmer said paying university students during on-the-job placements is a “good idea’’ but did not commit to paying for it.

“I think paying university students for compulsory placements when studying teaching is a good idea and would be a welcome cost-of-living support for students undertaking prac work,’’ Ms Farmer said on Tuesday.

Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said the Universities Accord “has correctly identified that cost-of-living pressures for university students doing unpaid placements are a major barrier’’.

She said unpaid placements for trainee nurses was a common issue raised during consultations on the state’s health workforce strategy. “In last year’s budget, the Queensland Labor government decided to provide a $5000 Cost of Living Allowance for final year nursing and midwifery students undertaking their placements in rural, regional and remote communities,” she said.

Victorian Skills and TAFE Minister Gayle Tierney said she welcomed the Accord review “to deliver much-needed reform for Australia’s higher education sector’’.