Dubbo Catholic School teachers will be going on a strike on Friday, May 27 to fight for enhanced pay, more time to do work and to encourage young people to join the profession.
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Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mark Northam said it was important for regional centres like Dubbo to stop work because the teacher shortage has reached a critical level.
"By that I mean if you went around the Dubbo schools today you would find a shortage of casual teachers and you would find the schools having enormous difficulty getting applicants to fill teaching positions," he said.
Mr Northam said there were complex reasons why there was a teaching shortage, but the main reason was the pay scales and the conditions under which teachers work.
"We're seeking that the pay be reset and realigned to other comparable professionals that do four to five years at university before entry to the profession," he said.
Another critical element of the campaign is letting teachers have more time to do their job.
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"We use the term 'release from face to face', so during the working week a primary school teacher gets two hours released from face to face to assist with lesson prep and we want that enhanced considerably," he said.
"We are also on the bigger picture trying to make teaching look attractive as a profession."
According to Mr Northam people entering the teacher training at various universities has "plummeted" by 30 percent.
To try and make an incentive for more young people to join the profession the Labor Government has promised to introduce teaching scholarships.
"Dubbo students who make the ATAR for teaching would get $12,000 a year to help them engage in education and hopefully make them more open to working in regional areas," Mr Northam said.
Mr Northam said he hoped parents would support teachers this Friday despite the disruption.
"We are aware a disruption will occur but we believe that the level of disruption that is already happening in schools in Dubbo and surrounding towns is only going to get worse," he said.
"Parents of children in Catholic Systemic Schools in Dubbo and surrounding areas would be picking up from their sons and daughters the shortages of teachers; having teachers standing in the doorways of two rooms, having multiple groups of students in school hall or library and that is compromising teaching and learning."
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The current issue of how schools are able to stay open on a daily basis is one of the main focuses of the strike.
"Teaching and learning is currently being compromised because there is simply insufficient people. We are happy to acknowledge that COVID has exacerbated this but this issue of teacher shortage has been coming for some years and the union has been signalling, but it hasn't been heard," he said.
Mr Northam said they were trusting the parent community to back their schools and support them in their fight for a larger supply of teachers into the schools, for them to be fairly paid and have time released to do their job.