Peter Rundle: McGowan Government must address teacher exodus

As Term 3 comes to a close, it’s worth reflecting on the difficult school year so far.

Overworked teachers. Understaffed schools. Increasing violence.

Our education system is in disrepair and the McGowan Labor Government’s failure to deliver for WA schools over the past five years is to blame.

A recent report by the Productivity Commission, which reviewed the National School Reform Agreement, laid bare the issues our State’s schools face on a daily basis.

One of the concerning statistics to come out of the report is that they are spending as little as 40 per cent of their time in the classroom. The other 60 per cent is being spent on administrative duties. This is not news to teachers.

Teachers surveyed said the number one reason they are leaving the profession is workload, with the report indicating higher hours of work for teachers reduces the quality of teaching.

No one would dispute the quality of our teachers, who are tasked with educating the next generation of West Australians, is the highest priority.

When the Productivity Commission recommends teacher workloads should be reduced and more attention be paid to student well-being, you would think the Government of the day would listen.

Unfortunately, the McGowan Labor Government has kept its head in the sand. This report just follows a range of headlines that are a damning indictment on our education system.

To be nearly 700 staff short in our public education sector is truly shocking and a shortage of that magnitude could have been predicted and should have been avoided by the McGowan Labor Government.

At this level, the system is unsustainable.

It is vital that our teachers are happy, sufficiently supported in their roles, well remunerated and enjoy their vocation. The positive impact on students by valued teachers is immeasurable and lasts a lifetime. Unfortunately, this is not what is happening in some of our classrooms, with worn out teachers torn in multiple directions as they juggle a growing list of responsibilities.

Exhausted teachers cannot possibly give their best to their students.

Having to spend their time allocated to administration doing relief because there are no relief teachers to call. They have to double their classroom numbers because a teacher can’t be replaced and have to make up lessons at the last minute for students who can’t make it to school.

The lack of surety in their roles has taken a toll.

Principals have been left in the difficult position of dealing with directives from the Department of Education, exhausted teachers, irate parents and discipline problems with students.

They also have to be the school’s CEO, chief financial officer, office manager, HR manager, pastoral care leader and the chief negotiator, just to name a few.

I am concerned that the onus of many issues in schools is being unfairly lumped on the principals, who are finding themselves in the situation of being asked to come up with ideas to reduce the workload for teachers and to let the Department know what they might be.

A number of teachers and principals have contacted me with their own experiences about how they have been left to their own devices to manage the issues our schools face.

School staff should not feel like they are on their own and it is incumbent on the Department, the Education Minister, and the entire McGowan Labor Government to provide proper support and solutions to address the growing list of concerns.

The issues impacting WA’s schools are State-wide, but they are magnified in regional and remote areas. Finding a suitable house for the principal and new teachers is impossible in some towns.

Government housing and private rentals are at a premium — they can’t be found anywhere.

I hear a lot of blame coming from the Premier and the Education Minister. It’s always someone or something else’s fault. Blaming the pandemic for the current staffing crisis or comparing us to other States is ignoring the raft of failures by the McGowan Labor Government since it was elected in 2017.

With 25 per cent of graduates leaving classrooms after five years, the education environment needs to change. This mass exodus of teachers is not sustainable.

So as schools start to turn their mind to the Term 4 of 2022, the Government needs to turn its mind to valuing and respecting our teachers, to give them a reason to stay in the classroom.

Peter Rundle is Shadow Education and Training Minister.