SCHOOLS
We have falling outcomes and a massive shortage of teachers.
After 12 years of neglect and cuts can we really trust Dominic Perrottet and the Liberals with our schools any longer?
When the Liberals came to power in 2011 they cut 1,800 NSW education jobs, including support workers whose tasks have now been shifted directly onto teachers.
This means teachers are now spending more time doing admin work and less time teaching our kids.
They ignored warnings by the Auditor General in 2012 and by their own Education Department in 2019 that unless they took action, NSW would not have enough teachers.
Now we have chronic teacher shortages, our kids’ classes are often cancelled and NSW students are falling behind the other states according to the latest NAPLAN scores.
Yet after all this, Dominic Perrottet’s Education Minister says claims of a teacher shortage are a “beat-up” and “just not true.”
TAFE
Cuts to TAFE and halving the number of apprentices and traineeships.
During their 12 years in office, Dominic Perrottet and his government have cut 4,500 TAFE teachers and closed or sold off 14 TAFE campuses. The number of people finishing apprenticeships or traineeships each year has more than halved, and TAFE enrolments are down by more than 80,000 students.
Labor will repair our education system
We’ll lift standards and cut down on distractions by banning the use of mobile phones in high school classrooms.
We’ll change school zoning rules so every child has access to a Co-Ed school, because life is co-ed.
And we’ll build new schools in areas where our population is booming.
Recruiting and retaining our teachers
- We’ll convert 10,000 existing casual and temporary teacher positions to permanent positions, giving them the job certainty they’re asking for.
- And we’ll reduce the admin burden placed on teachers by conducting a line-by-line audit of all administrative tasks teachers have to do.
That’s just the start. We’ll work with principals, teachers and parents to bring back respect to the teaching profession, ensure that it attracts great talent, is well rewarded and better supported.