Teachers Federation members at Barooga Public School on the NSW/Victoria border have walked off the job over the impact the state-wide shortage of teachers is having on their school.
NSW Teachers Federation Deputy President Henry Rajendra said staff walked out because the Education Department had failed to adequately address the staffing crisis and left schools like Barooga Public with difficulty accessing permanent and casual teachers.
"Barooga has a classroom teacher vacancy which the school is having difficulty filling and that is causing a particular problem on a daily basis," Mr Rajendra said.
"The staffing of schools is the responsibility of the NSW Government and its Education Department. They have failed Barooga Public."
"The teacher shortage is affecting large and small schools across the state and the NSW Government needs to act quickly to address this problem."
"Our members at Barooga Public are also concerned about the inadequacy of
incentives for teachers to transfer into their area to take up teaching or alleviate local shortages."
Mr Rajendra said the Gallop Inquiry into the work of teachers found earlier this year that uncompetitive salaries for teachers and unsustainable workloads are leading to teacher shortages."
"The workloads of teachers have increased every year, but their salaries have fallen every year compared to other professions."
"You can't fix the shortages without fixing the wages and workload problem."
"If we don't pay teachers what they are worth, we won't get the teachers we need."
