Teachers employed at Wellington Correctional Centre are among more than 150 teachers statewide who were flown to Sydney on Thursday to find out if they still have their jobs after the state government announced jobs would go as part of an educational reform in state prisons.
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NSW Teachers Federation Deputy Secretary Maxine Sharkey said of more than 150 positions, only 20 were likely to remain, in what she felt would be a devastating blow to prison rehabilitation, giving prisoners no chance.
She said while on paper it looked as though three Wellington employees would go, the reality was closer to seven.
"Today they are flying teachers to Sydney from around the state," she said.
"They fly into Sydney at 12.30pm to have a meeting in a church hall to see who's going."
She said those made redundant would be replaced by clerks, but not in a one-for-one match, adding that it was unclear what qualifications would be required under the new system when the jobs were tendered out.
"The paperwork makes it very difficult to work out," she said.
"Corrective Services is putting education in the jails out to tender and that will line the pockets of the discredited private providers who have so successfully rorted the vocational education system."
"They want to implement it by February next year and they don't even know who they will replace the qualified teachers with."
She said as prison numbers soared, the decision didn't make sense.
"If you've gained an education in prison you are less likely to reoffend," she said.
"Many prisoners are illiterate and innumerate and it is one of the reasons why you need to have very experienced teachers in jail."
She said there was also a concern of more violence in the prisons, especially if inmates had a bad experience of education in the past.
"If they've been hiding the fact they can't read... and if you feel embarrassed and vulnerable about yourself it is not a great place to have these feelings shared. One of the things about jail is that you don't show you are vulnerable. If you walk into a class and start to feel that way it could manifest as violence which is why you really need to be an experienced teacher to work with them and make them relax and coax and encourage them."
As Wellington is one of just four correctional centres in the state with an intensive learning school, she said Wellington hadn't been hit as hard as the other prisons.
"Some prisons aren't going to keep any teachers," she said.
Meanwhile corrective services minister David Elliott said education was a still a focus in the rehabilitation process, but that the education reform was a case of getting better value for money and a better focusing of services.
