Staff will be able to breathe a little easier at Murrumbidgee Regional High School, which could soon be getting five new casual teachers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The announcement was made by NSW education minister Sarah Mitchell, who said the new casual positions would "more than account" for any teacher absences.
The super school had been suffering from a spate of untaught classrooms, with 377 classes left without a regular teacher in term one alone according to the NSW Department of Education.
A department spokesman said they were trying to come up with new ways to attract casual teachers to rural areas like Griffith.
"Five teachers will be recruited by Murrumbidgee Regional High School on a two year temporary contract to cover teacher absence across both sites," the spokesman said.
"Casual teachers can struggle to remain in drought stricken areas without the surety of permanent or temporary contract work."
READ MORE
"Good on them," Mrs Dalton said.
"If [the department] manage to employ these people it'll be fantastic."
However Mrs Dalton said she remains skeptical about whether or not they'll be able to find applicants any time soon.
Last year Murrumbidgee Regional High School reportedly received zero applications for their $117,000 per annum special education head teacher position, even though they advertised it twice.
Mrs Dalton blames the "teacher shortage crisis" on the lack of financial incentives for Griffith teachers, who are missing out on the benefits that other teachers in the Murray electorate are getting.
However she said five new casual teachers were a good first step, and she congratulated Griffith teachers and the NSW Teachers Federation for lobbying hard and drawing attention to the teacher shortage.
According to the NSW Teachers Federation there were over 700 classes that went without a regular teacher across term one and term two, which they attribute to the teacher shortage.
"When there are over 700 classes uncovered there's no educational outcomes for our kids," Mrs Dalton said.
"This would not occur in Sydney, and here we are in August still actively lobbying for incentivisation while our students are suffering."
***
While you're with us, did you know that you can now receive updates straight to your inbox every Monday at 6am from The Area News? To make sure you're up to date with all the Griffith and MIA news you can sign up here