Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At a Mackellar Youth Partnership Meeting recently, the students each prepared a 90-second statement on a topic that was important to them. Today, I'm delighted to be reading one of these, from Keisha Tickle, a leader of a local high school in Mackellar:

As the extortionate workloads and demands increase for public school teachers, immense stresses are put on their mental and physical health, resulting in 50% of new teachers leaving the profession in the first five years.

As such, their ability to cater to student needs is substantially decreasing, significantly impacting students' academic performance and emotional wellbeing.

Students are beginning to teach themselves, teachers are taking 'sick days' in a poor attempt to stay afloat, and students' educational needs are being neglected.

The public school system is collapsing.

Furthermore, we have a teacher shortage; resulting in students in almost 10,000 lessons each day being left without adequate instruction in disruptive class arrangements.

There are only half the number of casual teachers available to meet educational demand.

…   …   …

If students are having just one subject covered or missed in a five period day, that's 20% of their learning lost.

Why should our education suffer because the teaching profession is not being sustained?

The public system is failing us.'

Thank you.