By Daniel Lo Surdo and Lucy Carroll
NSW public schools will get three extra pupil-free days a year under a new wage agreement that will also lift teacher pay by 10 per cent, including superannuation, over three years.
The deal accepted on Monday – which comes one year after 95,000 teachers accepted a historic pay rise that resulted in starting salaries rising to $85,000 – will secure a 3 per cent wage rise in each of the next three years, with superannuation increases of 0.5 per cent included for the next two years.
NSW Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra said members voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of the proposal.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Three extra pupil-free days a year will be added, bringing the total number of professional development days to eight.
Under the deal, teachers will also be granted a one-off $1000 relief payment from the state government if inflation exceeds 4.5 per cent for any year.
A review mechanism monitoring the new right to disconnect laws will also be added and weekly staff meetings outside school hours will be capped at one hour.
NSW Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra said the agreement was “overwhelmingly endorsed” on Monday morning and would provide “significant improvements” to the working conditions of teachers across the state.
“What we have now are wonderful opportunities where the employer, finally after so many years, is offering the profession a genuine sense of respect to attract and retain the teachers that we need,” Rajendra said.
The three additional pupil-free days will result in fewer days that students spend in the classroom. The number of professional development days will increase to four at the beginning of term one, two before term two, and one each before terms three and four.
‘Full-on job’
Rajendra dismissed any suggestion that fewer lessons caused by the additional pupil-free days would undermine student outcomes, saying they would allow teachers extra time to offer the “best quality education for our kids”.
“These are important matters that go to the issue of teacher workload,” Rajendra said. “Once the kids return, it’s a full-on job; the role of the teacher throughout the school day is quite hectic [and] this time at the beginning of each school term remains critical and valued by the profession.”
The agreement was endorsed after teachers met at almost 200 schools across NSW this morning, causing some to start late or operate under minimal supervision while staff voted on the deal.
Speaking on Monday morning before the agreement was accepted, Deputy Premier and Education Minister Prue Car said several of the deal’s conditions were focused on “eliminating as much workload as we can from teachers”.
“One of the major reasons that teachers were leaving the profession in droves, and now we’re able to say that we’re keeping more, is because there was too much of an admin burden”, Car said.
“Our wonderful teachers become teachers because they want to teach.”
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