❓ Mr. Snook questions the Education Minister about teacher shortages and the use of distance education and fly-in teachers. The Minister acknowledges the shortage but highlights overall improvements in teacher numbers and initiatives to address recruitment challenges.
AnsweredQoN 54Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SCHOOLS - USE OF SCHOOLS OF ISOLATED AND DISTANCE EDUCATION AND FLY IN, FLY OUT TEACHERS
I refer to the disgraceful situation whereby schools across the state, including those in major regional centres, have been forced to resort to teaching students through the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education or fly in, fly out teachers. (1) Why has this situation been allowed to occur? (2) Why did not the government disclose the massive failing prior to the start of the school year? (3) Can the minister guarantee that the education of affected students has not been compromised by his government’s incompetence? Mr M. McGOWAN
I refer to the disgraceful situation whereby schools across the state, including those in major regional centres, have been forced to resort to teaching students through the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education or fly in, fly out teachers. (1) Why has this situation been allowed to occur? (2) Why did not the government disclose the massive failing prior to the start of the school year? (3) Can the minister guarantee that the education of affected students has not been compromised by his government’s incompetence? Mr M. McGOWAN
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
(1) Why has this situation been allowed to occur? (2) Why did not the government disclose the massive failing prior to the start of the school year? (3) Can the minister guarantee that the education of affected students has not been compromised by his government’s incompetence? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
(2) Why did not the government disclose the massive failing prior to the start of the school year? (3) Can the minister guarantee that the education of affected students has not been compromised by his government’s incompetence? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
(3) Can the minister guarantee that the education of affected students has not been compromised by his government’s incompetence? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
(1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
(1) Why has this situation been allowed to occur? (2) Why did not the government disclose the massive failing prior to the start of the school year? (3) Can the minister guarantee that the education of affected students has not been compromised by his government’s incompetence? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
(2) Why did not the government disclose the massive failing prior to the start of the school year? (3) Can the minister guarantee that the education of affected students has not been compromised by his government’s incompetence? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
(3) Can the minister guarantee that the education of affected students has not been compromised by his government’s incompetence? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
(1)-(3) I thank the member for Moore for the question. It is true that we started the school year a number of teachers short. We were around 260 full-time and part-time teachers short three days before the school year started. From memory, by the time the school year started, we were down to around 200 short. The latest figures I have received show that that figure is in the vicinity of 60 around the state. Putting those figures into context, there are 1 300 more teachers in the Department of Education and Training teaching children in the public education system than when we came to office. That is the context of a public education system that has grown, but not by a great deal, in the time that we have been in office. Proportionately, the number of teachers per student has improved immensely. As a consequence of that, we have seen a reduction in class sizes in the system. We have teachers dedicated to behaviour management and discipline, and a nationally well-respected program that is seen as having delivered a good result. We have about 230 teachers dedicated to the Getting it Right literacy and numeracy strategy. I repeat that there are 1 300 extra teachers but at the moment we are 60 down on where we would like to be. Overall, we are 1 240 teachers better off than when we took office. We would like more teachers in some parts of the state. We have 50 people in the department working very hard to try to get teachers into some of those schools. It is very difficult to attract teachers to some parts of the state. I apologise to those communities that have been affected by this. I am not happy about the situation. It is very difficult to get teachers to go to some of these communities. The problem with the recruitment and transfer systems throughout the state is somewhat exacerbated by the fact that we often have local selections, so we do not know the position of an individual school until a few days before the school year starts. In addition, schools will often say that they have a full complement of staff. When the school year starts, some staff do not show so schools are a few teachers down but they did not know this before the school year started. We are dealing with a system that has more than 30 000 people working within it. Of course there will be all sorts of factors and difficulties going on in individual schools around the state. What has the government done? When I became aware of the problem, we went to a private sector recruitment agency called Gerald Daniels to give us advice on how to attract teachers to country areas. It is the first time it has been done in the department. It was not done during the opposition’s term in office. It had a similar problem. Mr C.J. Barnett : No, we didn’t. Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes, it did. I recall that the opposition started some school years 100 teachers down. We have private sector advice about what to do. We are in Britain recruiting teachers and we are working in other states to attract teachers. Lance Twomey is chairing a long-term task force, with a 30 to 40-year horizon, to look at how to improve teacher recruitment so that we do not face this problem in the future. We are doing things. We are looking at recruiting teachers earlier. As I said, we are looking overseas. We are also looking at measures to improve the status and morale of teachers. People in this state should remember that we are thousands of teachers and education assistants better off in our public school system than when we came to office.
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