The Education Directorate has launched a new plan to attract and retain more teachers for the ACT’s public schools.
Launching its Teacher Attraction and Retention Plan 2023-2028, the Directorate said the Plan identified teacher workforce requirements for the Territory’s public education system over the next five years.
The Directorate said the Plan also included a commitment to annual target setting and public reporting.
“Between 2020 and 2021 the ACT had the highest growth in school aged population and student enrolment figures in the nation,” the Directorate said.
“Since 2016, the number of students in public education has increased by 14 per cent and the number of teachers has also increased by 13.5 per cent,” it said.
“However, the national supply of graduate teachers is in decline, with all State and Territory Government school systems experiencing teacher workforce shortages.”
The Directorate said it was projecting that ACT public school enrolments would continue to grow each year to 2028, further increasing the demand for qualified teachers.
In addition to student growth, it said a portion of the teaching workforce would separate each year due to factors such as resignation and retirement.
“Accounting for scenarios that include both high and low teacher separation rates, this Plan projects that the Education Directorate will need to employ between 210-348 full-time equivalent teachers each year,” the Directorate said.
“In a climate of national decline of graduate teachers, the Plan identifies the challenges of the demand for qualified teachers for a growing system along with a portion of the workforce leaving due to retirement or resignation.”
The Education Directorate’s 12-page Plan can be accessed at this PS News link.
