Assistant Minister for Education, Brittany Lauga (pictured) has been appointed to lead a new working group aimed at attracting tradespeople to become teachers in Queensland’s schools.
Announcing Ms Lauga’s appointment, Minister for Education, Grace Grace said she would Chair the Trade to Teach Working Group made up of representatives from Government, unions, universities, industry and the Queensland College of Teachers.
Ms Grace said Ms Lauga was a great fit for the new role.
“As a regional MP, Brittany understands the needs of local communities and workforce challenges faced by industries such as the resources sector that are crying out for more skilled workers,” Ms Grace said.
“It’s important that we have a pipeline of industrial technology and design (ITD), or manual arts, teachers in our schools that can teach and inspire the next generation of trade and technical workers.”
She said the initiative was all about setting students up with a pathway to skilled, well-paid jobs.
Ms Lauga said her focus would be to work with key stakeholders in education and industry to attract more tradespeople to make the move into teaching — and to make sure tradespeople were supported to meet all the requirements to teach in Queensland schools.
“The goal of the group is to identify any current barriers and the solutions that will allow us to increase the pool of ITD teachers by tapping into the skills and knowledge of experienced tradespersons who have a desire to teach,” Ms Lauga said.
