❓ Opposition questions teacher staffing levels for 2023, referencing concerns about potential compromises to learning outcomes. Premier dismisses concerns as scaremongering, highlighting ongoing efforts to staff schools and challenges in remote areas.
AnsweredQoN 832Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SCHOOLS —
STAFFING
832. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:
I
refer to comments made by the president of the State School Teachers'
Union of Western Australia, Pat Byrne, at a recent state council meeting, when she suggested that in order to
ensure that there will be a teacher in front of every class in 2023,
schools will be made to cut classes, move subjects online and push staff out of
their teaching area. Can the Premier guarantee that there will be a teacher for
every classroom in Western Australia in 2023, without compromising the learning
outcomes of our students?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members! Premier, I want to make sure that I can at least hear and that Hansard
can record your answer.
STAFFING
832. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:
I
refer to comments made by the president of the State School Teachers'
Union of Western Australia, Pat Byrne, at a recent state council meeting, when she suggested that in order to
ensure that there will be a teacher in front of every class in 2023,
schools will be made to cut classes, move subjects online and push staff out of
their teaching area. Can the Premier guarantee that there will be a teacher for
every classroom in Western Australia in 2023, without compromising the learning
outcomes of our students?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members! Premier, I want to make sure that I can at least hear and that Hansard
can record your answer.
AnswerView source ↗
For the last question of 2022, the
opposition is scaremongering once again. That is what it does. It starts the
year scaremongering and it ends the year scaremongering. That is what it does.
Ms R. Saffioti : And the
middle of the year!
Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes; in the
middle of the year it was scaremongering. It is quarter time scaremongering and
three-quarter time scaremongering. That is what it does.
This is obviously something that we
work on each and every year to make sure that we have a sufficient number of
teaching staff. I recall that the opposition said exactly the same thing last
year, and, when it is proved wrong, it never admits that it was wrong. That is
what it does.
The Department of Education is
working through these issues, as it does each and every year. It is expert at
ensuring that we staff our schools across the state. It uses a range of
measures to ensure that we have a sufficient number of teachers. With 800
public schools and thousands of classrooms, some in the most remote places on
the planet, it may or may not be possible to make sure that each and every one
is perfect on day one; that is the same each and every year. Sometimes a sufficient
number of staff are allocated to a school, but then someone gets ill the day
before school is due to begin. Sometimes schools in the most remote parts of
the state are fully staffed and then someone's father or mother dies in
another state, and they have to leave. That is what happens. We do our best to
ensure that our schools are staffed all over Western Australia, each and every
year.
We recently announced some incentive
packages for people to go to the more remote and difficult-to-staff schools around the state. We already pay people
significantly more to go and work in the more remote and difficult-to-staff schools around Western Australia. That is a good practice that ensures that we
appropriately reward and incentivise people to work in the more difficult and
remote parts of Western Australia.
opposition is scaremongering once again. That is what it does. It starts the
year scaremongering and it ends the year scaremongering. That is what it does.
Ms R. Saffioti : And the
middle of the year!
Mr M. McGOWAN : Yes; in the
middle of the year it was scaremongering. It is quarter time scaremongering and
three-quarter time scaremongering. That is what it does.
This is obviously something that we
work on each and every year to make sure that we have a sufficient number of
teaching staff. I recall that the opposition said exactly the same thing last
year, and, when it is proved wrong, it never admits that it was wrong. That is
what it does.
The Department of Education is
working through these issues, as it does each and every year. It is expert at
ensuring that we staff our schools across the state. It uses a range of
measures to ensure that we have a sufficient number of teachers. With 800
public schools and thousands of classrooms, some in the most remote places on
the planet, it may or may not be possible to make sure that each and every one
is perfect on day one; that is the same each and every year. Sometimes a sufficient
number of staff are allocated to a school, but then someone gets ill the day
before school is due to begin. Sometimes schools in the most remote parts of
the state are fully staffed and then someone's father or mother dies in
another state, and they have to leave. That is what happens. We do our best to
ensure that our schools are staffed all over Western Australia, each and every
year.
We recently announced some incentive
packages for people to go to the more remote and difficult-to-staff schools around the state. We already pay people
significantly more to go and work in the more remote and difficult-to-staff schools around Western Australia. That is a good practice that ensures that we
appropriately reward and incentivise people to work in the more difficult and
remote parts of Western Australia.
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