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Ahead of tonight’s federal budget, Illawarra teachers are calling on Canberra to commit more funding to school resources to help with rising workloads, with new research showing it is the main cause of teachers leaving the profession.
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An Australian Education Union (AEU) survey released on Monday said school resourcing had fallen far behind the demands placed on teachers after the federal government last year abandoned the final two years of Gonski reforms, halting $3.7 billion of funding.
NSW Teachers Federation Wollongong region spokesman John Black said it had left thousands of students unable to receive the funding support they needed – especially children with a disability.
‘‘When I first started [primary] teaching I had a student with quite severe autism, and I was able to have a full-time teacher’s aid [school learning support officer] to meet the needs of that student,’’ Mr Black said.
Last year’s budget cuts meant having an extra person in the classroom might not always be available, he said.
The AEU State of Our Schools survey found the workload for 73 per cent of teachers had increased in the past year, while 42 per cent of teachers said they now worked more than 50 hours a week.
Mr Black said teachers were their ‘‘own worst enemies’’ and were stretched thin taking on extra duties such as administration tasks, to decrease the negative impact it had on their students.
‘‘Having extra support in the classroom, and having smaller classes sizes would be huge,’’ he said.
The AEU has said it wants tonight’s budget to deliver the final two years of Gonski funding, as well as an immediate increase in funding for children with a disability.
