- New Miles Government doing what matters most to Queenslanders by providing financial incentive to attract and retain teachers in rural and remote schools
- $3 million to provide free accommodation for 12 months for teachers moving to priority schools
- Rural and Remote Teacher Experience Program to be doubled to $500,000.
The Miles Government has moved swiftly to introduce immediate responses to the recommendations of the Teacher Workforce Roundtable, held on 28 May, to attract and retain teachers to rural and remote schools.
The Government will invest $3 million to provide free accommodation for teachers for up to 12 months who accept roles at priority regional, rural and remote schools from the commencement of Term 3, 2024.
The Government has also doubled funding for the Rural and Remote Teacher Experience program for 2024-2025 to $500,000
The program gives urban Queensland state school teachers considering teaching in a rural or remote state school a 1-week experience that is organised and funded by the department through an expression of interest process. It includes an orientation with the host school, a weekend living in the community and five days replacing the host teacher in class.
Experiencing rural or remote teaching provides an invaluable opportunity to broaden teaching practices along with providing enhanced employment opportunities for teachers. Of the teachers who have participated in this program, more than half have transferred to a rural or remote location to continue their teaching career.
The Teacher Workforce Roundtable brought together representatives from across the education sector for a productive discussion on solutions to address the teacher workforce challenges. The participants unanimously agreed incentives including financial, professional and social benefits will help attract and retain teachers, particularly to rural and remote schools.
The Queensland Government last week launched a survey of all state school teaching and leadership staff about workload pressures, which was also a key issue facing teachers, teacher aides and principals. The Government will review and consider the feedback provided about the administrative burdens taking them away from their core business with the intention of reducing overall workload.
Work has also begun on other action items agreed upon at the Roundtable:
- Developing a long-term, sector wide workforce strategy to look at how Queensland can attract, recruit and retain school staff.
- Building on the "Grow Your Own" concept by exploring initiatives targeted in regional and remote areas.
- Contacting recently retired and retiring teachers and school leaders to identify how they can remain engaged in the system.
- Developing a 'valuing teachers' campaign.
As stated by Premier Steven Miles:
"I am doing what matters for Queenslanders and that means making sure our fantastic Queensland teachers get to see what our regional and rural communities have to offer.
"We know that when people go to rural and regional Queensland to fill critical gaps in the workforce, they love it and want to stay there.
"I don't want cost to be a barrier for teachers thinking about a change, so I'm doing something about it."
As stated by Education Minister Di Farmer:
"We are absolutely committed to doing what matters for Queenslanders.
"We are exploring every plausible option to attract and retain the best teachers to our schools across the state.
"Queensland is one of the most geographically diverse education environments in the world.
"As I travel around the state visiting schools in towns of all sizes, I always meet teachers who moved to a rural or remote town, initially for a year or two, and fell in love with the community and the school and end up building their lives there.
"It's a consistent story from Cape York to Thargomindah.
"These programs support anyone interested in teaching in one of these communities to make that dream a reality."
