The Albanese government was found to have failed to provide its promised number of teachers amid the projected escalation of Labour’s school funding war, said Shadow Minister for Education Sarah Henderson.
Notably, Jason Clare, the education minister, made a promise in 2022 that Labour would be providing funding worth $68.3 million for 2,260 teachers which will be fast tracked into classrooms that needed more educators the most. With the government’s recent announcement that it will be spending $70.9 million for the funding of only 1,497 teachers, the number was far too short than what the education minister previously assured.
Henderson pointed out that with the current shortage crisis of educators in Australia, the announcement of the funding was “too little, too late” from Clare.
“Labour could not deliver the 2,260 teachers it promised two years ago, let alone fix acute teacher shortages particularly in regional and remote Australia,” said Henderson.
The senator further criticised how Clare was “missing in action” when it came to urgent reforms that were needed like better training for teachers as well as the explicit teaching of behaviour in the curriculum.
“It is no wonder teachers are leaving the profession in droves,” said Henderson.
The announcement of the funding followed Clare’s threat of cutting back on funding for public schools in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia after he had demanded them to sign up for his “Better and Fairer School Agreement” by the end of September.
Henderson further pointed out that Clare had caused a school funding war which she believes would get worse instead of staying true to the national teaching reforms that he had promised in order to improve the standards of schools.
“Australian parents, teachers and students are paying the price for Labour’s incompetence,” said the shadow minister for education.
The Albanese government’s investment of $70.9 million was part of its expansion of the High Achieving Teachers (HAT) Program, which aimed to provide financial assistance, mentoring, and fast-track training to help people get into teaching roles and is part of the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan.