❓ A WA parliamentary question addresses potential teacher shortages due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, seeking data on attrition and plans to maintain staffing levels in schools and TAFEs. The Minister provides data on vaccination rates and outlines existing attraction and retention strategies.
AnsweredQoN 946Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS
— MANDATORY VACCINATIONS — TEACHERS
946. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Education and
Training:
I refer to staff vaccination rates
in schools and training institutions and to the Premier's response to a
question asked by the member for Moore in the other place yesterday, 10
November 2021.
(1) Has any
modelling been undertaken to evaluate the likely attrition rate of teachers in
schools due to vaccine mandates?
(2) Can the
minister clarify the number of teachers that the education system will be short
when term 1 starts next year?
(3) Similarly,
has any modelling been undertaken to evaluate the likely attrition rate of TAFE
lecturers?
(4) Has the Department of Education developed any plan
to attract and retain teachers in the event that t eachers are forced to
exit the profession due to vaccine mandates?
(5) Can the minister provide some level of guarantee
that students will have a teacher in front of every classroom when
school resumes in 2022; and, if yes, will this result in larger class sizes or
class cancellations under a worst-case scenario?
— MANDATORY VACCINATIONS — TEACHERS
946. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Education and
Training:
I refer to staff vaccination rates
in schools and training institutions and to the Premier's response to a
question asked by the member for Moore in the other place yesterday, 10
November 2021.
(1) Has any
modelling been undertaken to evaluate the likely attrition rate of teachers in
schools due to vaccine mandates?
(2) Can the
minister clarify the number of teachers that the education system will be short
when term 1 starts next year?
(3) Similarly,
has any modelling been undertaken to evaluate the likely attrition rate of TAFE
lecturers?
(4) Has the Department of Education developed any plan
to attract and retain teachers in the event that t eachers are forced to
exit the profession due to vaccine mandates?
(5) Can the minister provide some level of guarantee
that students will have a teacher in front of every classroom when
school resumes in 2022; and, if yes, will this result in larger class sizes or
class cancellations under a worst-case scenario?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) The Department of Education is in the process of
surveying staff to understand the vaccination status across the state. This
will inform planning and support for schools. Of the 26 536 school-based staff
who have responded to date, 98.6 per cent are either fully vaccinated or intend
to be by the required date; 77.8 per cent of respondents are fully vaccinated;
20.8 per cent are intending to be fully vaccinated by the required date; 0.8
per cent are not fully vaccinated and intend to apply for a medical exemption;
and 0.6 per cent are not fully vaccinated and do not intend to apply for a medical
exemption.
(2) The Department of Education employs a range of
attraction and retention strategies as part of its annual and ongoing staffing
processes. These include, for example, the Leap program retraining for current
teachers; limited registration for highly skilled individuals in areas
of teacher workforce need; centrally managed recruitment
pools; a streamlined process for recently retired teachers to be re-registered;
Teach for Australia ; and the OnCountry education program. In addition,
the department operates a teacher flying squad to fill urgent vacancies around
the state while a suitable teacher is sourced.
(3) The
Department of Training and Workforce Development and TAFE colleges are jointly
planning for implementation of the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy,
including consideration of potential implications for lecturing staffing
levels.
(4) See answer to
(2).
(5) Principals
employ a range of strategies at the local level to ensure that there is a teacher
in front of every class. They work to industrially agreed class sizes, manage
enrolments and plan for class arrangements to best suit their local contexts,
using the flying squad if necessary.
some notice of the question.
(1) The Department of Education is in the process of
surveying staff to understand the vaccination status across the state. This
will inform planning and support for schools. Of the 26 536 school-based staff
who have responded to date, 98.6 per cent are either fully vaccinated or intend
to be by the required date; 77.8 per cent of respondents are fully vaccinated;
20.8 per cent are intending to be fully vaccinated by the required date; 0.8
per cent are not fully vaccinated and intend to apply for a medical exemption;
and 0.6 per cent are not fully vaccinated and do not intend to apply for a medical
exemption.
(2) The Department of Education employs a range of
attraction and retention strategies as part of its annual and ongoing staffing
processes. These include, for example, the Leap program retraining for current
teachers; limited registration for highly skilled individuals in areas
of teacher workforce need; centrally managed recruitment
pools; a streamlined process for recently retired teachers to be re-registered;
Teach for Australia ; and the OnCountry education program. In addition,
the department operates a teacher flying squad to fill urgent vacancies around
the state while a suitable teacher is sourced.
(3) The
Department of Training and Workforce Development and TAFE colleges are jointly
planning for implementation of the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy,
including consideration of potential implications for lecturing staffing
levels.
(4) See answer to
(2).
(5) Principals
employ a range of strategies at the local level to ensure that there is a teacher
in front of every class. They work to industrially agreed class sizes, manage
enrolments and plan for class arrangements to best suit their local contexts,
using the flying squad if necessary.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.