Substandard teachers on notice

TEACHERS unable to meet expected standards will be moved out of the profession under tough new measures being introduced in NSW.

TEACHERS unable to meet expected standards will be moved out of the profession under tough new measures being introduced by the NSW government to lift the quality of teaching in schools.

The NSW government also plans to link teacher pay rises to professional standards under the new award to start next year, replacing the automatic rises based on the number of years served that have hitherto been standard.

The state's Education Minister Adrian Piccoli yesterday said teachers struggling to meet expectations would be helped to improve but those who could not should be moved out of teaching.

"We are setting higher standards and we're determined to make sure those who don't meet them are helped to meet them, and those who are not meeting the standards will be moved on to somewhere else," he said.

"Parents and principals have made it very clear they want teachers who are underperforming out of the system and we are going to deliver on that. It's going to be a fair process but a tougher process (than) what exists already."

The measures were announced as part of a progress report on the implementation of the teaching reforms unveiled by the government a few months ago, which include imposing higher entry standards on students wishing to study teaching at university, a literacy and numeracy assessment that teaching students must pass before graduation, and a more structured and limited practical training program.

Under the NSW reforms, the most ambitious in the nation, only 25 per cent of school-leavers meet the new entry standards for teaching of at least 80 per cent in three subjects, including English.

The teaching reforms are supported by all the state's school systems, with the independent and Catholic school sectors also introducing measures to improve practical training and ongoing education for teachers.

The Education Department's director-general Michele Bruniges said existing procedures for dismissing substandard teachers take up to 20 weeks; she was confident that a more streamlined and efficient process could cut that time by about half.

"If a teacher is having problems, there's a support program -- a month or five weeks of support given to teachers," she said.

"And if they're still not coming up to scratch, we have to make a call and say we don't think it's the profession for you."

Negotiations for next year's award with the NSW Teachers Federation start next month.

Dr Bruniges said the department would pursue "with vigour" an overhaul of the management of underperforming teachers and the linking of pay rises to professional standards, instead of automatic increments.

The department is also introducing new measures to attract and retain high-quality teachers.

These include expanding its scholarship program with a new stream worth almost $30,000 a student for talented teachers wishing to work in rural and remote schools.

In addition, the department will offer cadetships for high-achieving HSC students, employing them as para-professionals in schools from the time they begin their teaching degree, and paid internships for high-performing teaching students to work in schools in their final year.