Hon Sue Ellery questions the Minister for Education regarding the eligibility criteria for the Switch program, which aims to assist teachers in transitioning to teaching Year 7 in secondary settings. The Minister clarifies who is eligible, including teachers not currently employed but meeting specific criteria.

AnsweredQoN 868Legislative Council
Asked
27 November 2013
Portfolio
Education

QuestionView source ↗

TEACHERS —
SWITCH PROGRAM
868. Hon SUE ELLERY to the
Minister for Education:
I refer to the Switch program to assist existing teaching
staff acquire the skills and content knowledge to teach year 7s in the
secondary setting from 2015.
(1) Is any
Switch money being used to assist either pre-service teaching applicants or any
other category of potential teaching staff not currently employed by the
Department of Education?
(2) If so, what is the eligibility for access to the Switch
program?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for some notice of this
question. Just before I give a response, on behalf of all members I wish you,
Mr President, a very happy birthday.
Hon Ken Travers : That is why I said nice things about you
earlier on.
The PRESIDENT : You want
the call, obviously.
Hon PETER COLLIER : I
answer —
(1) Yes.
However, pre-service teachers—that is, those who have not yet graduated—are
not eligible for the Switch program.
(2) Permanent
and fixed-term teachers who have worked for the department for a minimum of 12
months in the past five years and intend to work a minimum of 0.6 to one
full-time equivalent in 2015 are eligible. These teachers may not be currently
employed by the Department of Education.
Graduate teachers with a current application in the
department's graduate teacher pool are eligible to apply. They may not
have yet worked for the department, but have applied to do so.
The PRESIDENT : I should have said thanks and that I have
the privilege of sharing my birthday with Hon Mark Lewis. Both of us are
21-and-a-bit years old!

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