Hundreds of public school teachers from the Northern Rivers region joined the 15,000 strong Teachers Federation members NSW strike on Tuesday calling for better conditions and pay.
The local teachers gathered at The Tweed River Jockey Club near Murwillumbah as part of the public strike.
The teachers taking strike action called on the Government to urgently act on the teacher shortage and its underlying causes, uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads,’ said the NSW Teacher’s Federation
Principal of The Channon Public School, Steve Manser told the assembled teachers at the Murwillumbah strike that teachers needed more Release From Face to Face (RFF), a lower workload and better pay.
‘Two hours of preparation each week is not enough; so teachers end up doing a huge amount of work in their own time that they are not paid for,’ said one teacher who attended the rally but asked not to be named.
‘Teaching is a noble profession, it is an art. It is a profession that takes years to master,’ Mr Manser told the assembled teachers.
‘The Department of Education has allowed people’s opinions of teachers to change over many decades.
‘My parents grew up and went to public schools in the 1960s. They tell me that teachers were some of the most highly respected members of the community across NSW. They had a name in the community, they had integrity because they were valued because of the challenging job they had.
‘’Multiple governments have, over the decades have lost sight of what it means to be a teacher. This has resulted in a paradigm shift across the wider community over many generations since then.
Teachers of today are not known, cared or valued. Because our own department to has failed to back us. Minister Mitchell has the opportunity to leave a legacy. If she could stand tall, support us and be recognised for an Education Minster that represented public education and its teachers.
Minister Mitchel can leave a legacy by giving us more than just thanks. Minister Mitchel could go down in history as the minister that approved better pay, more RFF and less workload which would be appreciated and welcomed. But right now Minister Mitchel your decision making is about as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit.
‘Reforms have led to a data-driven profession where teachers don’t have the time to feel known, valued and cared for.
‘As a teacher and leader of my school I’m calling for change. I need help if I am going to stay in this profession, I need help it the department is going to continue to send a barrage of reforms across our desks. I need help if I am going to survive the next 25 years of the pressures of a crippling workload. We are seeing more and more teachers leaving the workforce in the first seven years. We are seeing more experienced teachers and leaders retiring early under the strain of so much change. We are seeing less teachers come into the profession.’
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