The Federal Government is investing $70.9 million to get almost 1500 new teachers from a range of backgrounds into schools across the country.
The government is tripling the number of teachers entering into the High Achieving Teachers (HAT) Program, which provides financial assistance, mentoring and training to get teachers into the classroom more quickly, helping to tackle the teacher workforce shortage.
Read the latest print edition of School News HERE
The funding will be provided to ten providers to get more people, including mid-career professionals and high-achieving school leavers, into the teaching profession.
The HAT Program is part of the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan that Education Ministers agreed to in 2022.
It builds on the success of Phase 1 of the HAT Program already underway in Victoria and New South Wales with 94 percent of graduates from the La Trobe Nexus program continuing to teach after graduating.
The providers will support the teachers-in-training to complete their qualifications and make a successful start in the classroom, providing them with the skills they need to commence a career in teaching. Participants receive a salary and split their time between practical teaching in the classroom and studying.
The program focuses on attracting new teachers, including with a STEM background, First Nations peoples, people with disability, teacher aides and people based in remote locations.
Federal Minister for Education Jason Clare said: “We don’t remember much about when we are little, but most of us remember our teachers’ names. That shows just how important our teachers are, and the impact they have on us. And we don’t have enough of them.
“This program targets recruiting and training more school teachers in schools that need them the most.”
The Australian Education Union (AEU) welcomed the funding announcement, however, criticised the government’s preference for providing funds to Teach For Australia (TFA) to “fast track” people into the teaching profession.
The AEU said recruiting unqualified and inexperienced TFA associates to teach in the most disadvantaged communities is counterintuitive and damaging for all concerned, with the evidence showing that such ‘fast track’ programs are wasteful, inefficient and undermine both the quality and retention of the teaching profession.
Australian Education Union Federal President Correna Haythorpe said “We want a properly qualified, well-supported profession and that starts with high quality initial teacher education.
“Fast track programs run the risk of not providing the essential support needed for teachers to fully develop their skills. You don’t fill workforce shortages by lowering the qualifications. You fill them by proper planning to address supply and demand issues and by all governments committing to strong attraction and retention provisions for the workforce, starting with full funding so that teachers and support staff have the resources they need for teaching and learning,” said Ms Haythorpe
The new school teachers will start to be placed into schools that need them the most in 2025.
