Casual teachers have hit back at suggestions there will be a shortage of permanent teachers in the future, revealing their struggles in finding permanent jobs.
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An Auditor-General’s report focusing on education, released last week, indicated the permanent teaching workforce in public schools was ageing, with 35per cent of the teaching workforce to reach retirement age in the next five years.
But casual teachers are concerned the permanent vacancies created by retirees will not lead to more permanent jobs.
An experienced Illawarra casual teacher, who did not want to be named, said qualified teachers had serious difficulty finding a permanent job, sentiments echoed on a Facebook page dedicated to NSW casual teachers.
She said during terms 2 and 3 she could get up to three days’ work, usually at three different schools, but got very little work in terms 1 and 4.
‘‘There will be no teacher shortage because there is already an oversupply of new graduates who can’t get work and older teachers will not be retiring but ... remaining in the system on a casual basis,’’ she said.
‘‘Thousands of us casuals are living on the breadline because the little work available is not fairly shared around.
‘‘If I could get a regular one day per fortnight year round, I would be living like a pig in clover compared with now.’’
According to the Department of Education’s 2013 Teaching Workforce Supply and Demand report, there are more than 40,000 teachers seeking a permanent position as of March this year.
The department appoints about 2200 new permanent teachers each year.
The report states there were an estimated 6353 teaching graduates, up from 4669 in 2003. Figures were sourced from the University Special Survey.
‘‘We should not be encouraging young people to become primary teachers or high school teachers of subjects where there’s an oversupply because all their years of training will be wasted when they are forced to seek work elsewhere,’’ the casual teacher said.
She thought more schools should get on board with systems such as Class Cover to ensure fairer allocation of casual work and said even job-sharing a permanent position would be preferable to not working permanently.
NSW Teachers Federation president Maurie Mulheron said it was unfair for schools to fill permanent vacancies with casual teachers.
‘‘The baby boomers are retiring and we need to ensure the next generation of teachers have work and we retain them,’’ he said.
A Department of Education spokesman said the use of casual and temporary teachers was constantly reviewed to ensure opportunities for permanent positions were maximised.
‘‘Factors that influence when a teacher is appointed to a vacancy include the school’s curriculum needs, the teacher’s accreditation and areas of expertise, the geographic locations in which he or she is prepared to work and his or her priority date for employment,’’ he said.
‘‘In accordance with the department’s staffing agreement with the Teachers Federation, regular updates are provided to the Teachers Federation on the filling of positions.’’
Mr Mulheron said the Teachers Federation had sought the assistance of the Industrial Relations Commission to ensure the department instructed schools to fill permanent vacancies with permanent teachers.
