Mr Rundle asks about the availability of relief teachers and the number of combined classes due to shortages in WA schools. The response indicates the Department does not collect the requested data.

AnsweredQoN 547Legislative Assembly
Asked
10 August 2022
Portfolio
Education and Training

QuestionView source ↗

For the financial years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, please detail: (a) the total number of relief teachers available for schools broken down by region including the metropolitan area; and (b) the total number of classes that were combined as a result of a shortage of relief teachers, broken down by region including the metropolitan area?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
20 September 2022
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Education and Training
Response time
6 days
Answer
(a)   Schools currently engage casual teachers through a variety of means, such as:
·         Casual Staff Seeker tool
·         Third party online booking tools
·         Contacting relief teachers directly by phone or email, or face to face utilising printed CVs and school-based spreadsheets
·         Internal relief undertaken by teachers already employed in the school.
As schools currently access relief staff from a number of sources, the total number of relief teachers available for employment in schools is not available.
(b)  The Department of Education offers support to schools that are experiencing challenges in filling absences locally. On all occasions that schools have sought such support, absences have been covered. Information on other measures taken by schools to manage teacher absences are not collected by the Department.

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