Hon. Kate Doust questions the Minister for Education regarding changes to the Country Teaching Program (CTP) that may force teachers to remain in regional schools longer than anticipated, potentially deterring future participation. The Minister defends the program, stating no industrial agreement guarantees return to the city.

AnsweredQoN 564Legislative Council
Asked
18 September 2013
Portfolio
Education

QuestionView source ↗

EDUCATION —
COUNTRY TEACHING PROGRAM PLACEMENTS
564. Hon KATE DOUST to the
Minister for Education:
I refer to the recent revelations that teaching staff placed
in regional schools under the country teaching program—CTP—many
of whom took up these positions with the understanding that they were two-year
placements, will now be forced to stay in their current schools.
(1) Does the
minister support this policy change that will deter future teachers from
transferring to regional CTP schools?
(2) Does the
minister concede that removing this key incentive will now make CTP schools
more difficult to staff, which was the reason for the incentives in the first
place?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for the question.
(1)–(2) The
country teaching program has been successful. There was never any industrial
agreement that those teachers would come back to the city. That is the issue at
the moment. There was never any industrial agreement, and that has not changed.
As much as teachers might think that way or the union might think that way,
that has simply not changed. The situation will remain the same. If a teacher
gains permanency, that teacher can gain a position in the city if and when a
position becomes available, the same as has occurred as a result of the
agreement with the unions. So nothing has changed as far as that is concerned.

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