NSW Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra with Lake Illawarra High School federation representative Larelle Gorman and Lake Illawarra High School teacher Cherie Redmond. Photo: NSW Teachers Federation.
Illawarra and South Coast public schools desperately need more funds to give students the education they deserve, NSW Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra says.
Mr Rajendra joined teachers outside Lake Illawarra High School on Monday (24 June) to call for greater investment in public schools after a survey found just 3 per cent of teachers thought their school was well-resourced and 88 per cent reported a decline in teacher wellbeing and morale.
“This survey shows how the combined impact of the $1.9 billion funding shortfall and teacher shortage puts teachers under an incredible amount of pressure,” Mr Rajendra said.
“Teachers are committed to their students, but when we have governments not stepping up to provide funding, staffing and resources, it leads to unsustainable workloads and burnout.
“We are having difficulty retaining the teachers we have and it’s very difficult to attract the teachers we need.
“We need the funds to relieve those workload pressures, increase staffing and improve the environment for our students.
“If we had funds, we could employ thousands more teachers, reduce class sizes, widen curriculum offerings for students and reduce prep time.”
The survey of 318 principals and teachers across the Illawarra and South Coast also found that 41 per cent of teachers have taught merged or split classes regularly or always, and only 19 per cent of teachers are committed to staying in the profession until retirement.
Mr Rajendra called on federal MPs to fight for their local public schools.
More than 66 per cent of students in the Whitlam, Cunningham and Gilmore electorates attend a public school – almost 50,000 children in total.
“Each one of these students is turning up this morning to an underfunded school,” he said.
“Our schools and our students need champions in Parliament who will stand up and demand fair funding.
“Amazing things happen in our public schools every day, but the government is exploiting the goodwill of teachers to maintain standards. This is not sustainable.
“The challenges facing our schools are too great, and the cost of inaction too high. We need the state and federal governments to step up and deliver the funding our schools so urgently need.
“The Federal Government must lift its share of funding to 25 per cent by 2028, while the NSW Government must ensure that public schools are genuinely funded at 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard.”
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