NSW public school teachers are to be offered cash incentives in a bid to encourage more teachers to complete additional training.
Announced by the Minister for Education and Early Learning, Sarah Mitchell, incentives of up to $4,000 are to be paid to teachers who gain national Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation.
Ms Mitchell said HALT accreditation recognised highly effective, innovative and exemplary teaching practice, and enabled all NSW teachers to access salaries of up to $120,000.
“We know the quality of teachers across NSW is world class,” Ms Mitchell said.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for our best teachers to be recognised and remunerated for their impact, she said.
“There are already 310 HALTs in NSW, but we have an ambitious goal to increase the number to at least 2,500 by 2025.
“I am thrilled that we are on track to meet this target, with almost 600 new teachers signing up since we streamlined the process last year.”
Ms Mitchell said the new HALT incentives included a $2,000 one-off payment upon successful completion of HALT module 1 and the same amount upon completion of HALT module 2.
She said the new incentives would automatically be paid to teachers who undertook HALT accreditation.
“The new incentives will be in addition to a $7,000 pay rise, which will now come into effect immediately after the teacher finalises their HALT accreditation,” the Minister said.
“Until now, the pay rise has been subject to regular salary band progression, meaning teachers had to wait up to two years before they would receive the boost.”
Further information on HALT accreditation can be accessed at this PS News link.
