Regional, rural and remote schools are to have access to a dedicated local pool of relief teachers to help cover classes when teachers are away following the expansion of a Department of Education pilot.
Announced by Minister for Regional NSW, Paul Toole, and Minister for Education and Early Learning, Sarah Mitchell, the Casual Supplementation Program offers teachers a three year, full-time role as a relief teacher with job security, professional learning and leave entitlements.
Ms Mitchell said the program was already proving a big success.
“Staffing our schools, particularly our regional ones, is complex and I am very pleased to say that we are seeing great results where the program is already up and running, including in very remote areas across the state that are traditionally hard to staff,” Ms Mitchell said.
“The program groups schools in geographic clusters with a commute time of around an hour from a central ‘hub’ school where the relief teacher is based,” she said.
“The program is being implemented in schools with the highest need for casual teachers in regional and rural areas from the North Coast to the Central West and the Riverina, as well as in hard to staff areas on the outskirts of Sydney.”
Ms Mitchell said the Department’s program was part of its Teacher Supply Strategy to create new pathways into teaching, place high-quality teachers where they were needed most, and ensure a steady pipeline of teachers entering the workforce.
