2023-07-07
The Greens have welcomed the report from the government’s Teacher Education Expert Panel – which recommends boosting teacher education – but have warned that investing in skills can only do so much while public schools remain underfunded across the country.
Comments attributable to Greens spokesperson on schools, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:
“An investment in comprehensive and practical teacher education would be welcome. Teachers deserve to be given the skills to thrive in the classroom, and our kids deserve the best education possible.
“But today’s announcement will do very little to prevent the drain of teachers from the profession, and it will do nothing to lure back the thousands of experienced educators who have left the classroom for good.
“Teachers aren’t leaving the profession en masse because they don’t have the proper skills. They’re leaving because they’ve overworked and under-resourced – which makes it impossible for them to do the job they’ve been trained to do.
“The inconvenient and unspoken truth underpinning this report is that none of the recommendations will make a difference to teachers’ ability to do their jobs if we don’t also reduce teacher workload and ensure that schools are able to afford the resources their students need.
“That means fully funding schools to 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard.
“The next National School Reform Agreement, which determines funding arrangements between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments, will be signed next year.
“With Labor in power federally and across the mainland they must finally close the funding gap and bring the public school system back from the brink. No excuses.”