AEU: Rockliff gets an ‘F’ after Back-to-School Bedlam

Media release – Australian Education Union Tasmanian Branch, 6 February 2024

Rockliff gets an ‘F’ after Back-to-School Bedlam

Severe staff shortages and chronic underfunding at the start of another year confirms the verdict that the decade-old Tasmanian Liberal Government is a solid ‘F’ for failure on managing public education, the AEU Tasmanian Branch said today.

An AEU survey has found that principals are spending as much as a third of their time ahead of Term 1 commencement trying to find staff, rather than their core job of preparing the school for student learning.

• Almost 2 in 5 principals (38.2%) report a teacher shortage of one or more Full Time Equivalent (FTE). Some schools are more than three teachers short.
• 1 in 4 principals (26.1%) have spent 10 hours or more trying to recruit staff.

“We know some schools are so desperate to find staff that they are advertising on Facebook,” said Mr Genford.

The State Government has attempted to paper over cracks by banning schools from ‘purchasing’ required staff using their Schooling Resource Package (SRP) until all vacant positions are filled. This allows the State Government to fudge the numbers to underplay the extent of the staffing crisis.

“Ten years ago, the Tasmanian Liberal Party promised to ‘lead the nation in education’ and by their own measure have failed dismally,” said David Genford, AEU Tasmanian Branch President.

“A decade of Liberal Government mismanagement and austerity has left us with record levels of burnout among teachers and principals and an entire generation of students short-changed the support they need to reach their full potential,” he said.

“Teachers and support staff in schools and colleges do an amazing job and strive every day to give their students the best education possible, but increasingly every day is an uphill battle with unsafe workloads, seeing more teachers than ever leaving the profession and the state.”

Shamefully, the Rockliff Government signed a secretive bilateral Agreement on 4 December 2023, which leaves public school students starting the year more than $2,000 per student (10%) short of the minimum funding standard required. Worse still, the extended agreement maintains a funding loophole that allows millions of dollars intended for students to be spent on capital depreciation and other non-school items such as transport.

“Delivering minimum funding for schools would make a world of difference to students. It would mean more individual support for students with complex needs, small group tutoring for those at risk of falling behind, and more psychologists, social workers and education support staff,” said Mr Genford.

As speculation of an early state election grows, the AEU will shortly launch its education blueprint, outlining the key policies AEU members will seek all candidates to support, including fully funding schools, fixing the staffing and workload crisis, and ending stand down for support staff to deliver the quality public education Tasmanians expect and deserve.

Media release – Josh Willie MLC, Shadow Minister for Education and Early Years, 6 February 2024

Tasmanian students missing out under Liberals

Tasmania’s education outcomes are going backwards under a chaotic Liberal government that has dropped the ball after 10 years in office.

Productivity Commission data released today shows Tasmania sits behind the national average in every category, with results stagnant over the past decade.

Yet again, the Liberal Government has been big on rhetoric but very poor on delivery.

They did not meet their 2020 target that Tasmania will be at or above the national standard in every single NAPLAN measurement, meeting the national benchmarks in reading, writing, maths and science and on the current trajectory it is unlikely the Year 7 reading target will be achieved by 2030.

The year 12 attainment rate has gone backwards, and at 53.1 per cent it is the worst it has been in years, slipping well behind the national average of 76.3 per cent.

In addition to poor outcomes, attendance rates are below the national average in most categories.

Apparent retention rates for secondary students have also dropped to just 71.7 per cent, the lowest in the nation outside the NT and well below the national average. This figure is nearly back to 2010 levels (71 per cent), which begs the question – what have the Liberals been doing to improve results?

The percentage of students with a disability receiving support is lower than every state and territory and below the national average, despite Tasmania having some of the highest levels of disability in the general population.

It’s time we had a government which prioritised the education of our children so we can turn around these results and build a better future for all Tasmanians.