The newly elected state government has asked the NSW Department of Education for a line-by-line audit of teachers’ administrative tasks, with the goal of reducing the administrative workload of teachers by five hours a week.
NSW education minister Prue Car said teachers were being swamped with policy updates, cutting into time with students and lesson planning.
“We need to act urgently to address this, which is why I have told the department to make changes right away to support our teachers,” Car said.
“This is just the start.”
For Term 2, which started this week, the government halved the number policies and processes which were meant to roll out.
Additionally, all pilots and programs which were due to start in Term 2 have been paused and will be reviewed, with teachers to consult on which should be continued.
The minister appeared, alongside Education acting secretary Murat Dizdar, on a livestream on Monday to outline her priorities.
Thank you to the @NSWEducation staff who were able to join @pruecar and I for today’s livestream. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to listen and submit questions. We have lots of work to do and will remove unnecessary workload so you can focus on Teaching & Learning. https://t.co/SaOzWCZGTk
— Murat Dizdar (@dizdarm) April 24, 2023
Dizdar is acting secretary of the department following former secretary Georgina Harrisson’s dismissal from the position as part of the post-election machinery of government changes announcement.
NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said the webinar was “the most honest communication we have witnessed in years”.
“Mr Dizdar also acknowledged the need to cut workloads and would start offering permanent positions to temporary teachers this term, in line with the government’s commitment to convert 10,000 temporary positions into permanent ones,” Gavrielatos commented.
“He also said the behaviour strategy was being reviewed and requirements for student behaviour management plans put on hold.
“All this stands in clear contrast to the denial we heard from the previous government about the scale of the teacher shortage and its underlying causes of unsustainable workload, uncompetitive pay and an exponential increase in insecure employment.”
Car will be holding roundtables with key public education partners, including the NSW Teachers Federation, in the next few weeks to discuss issues such as the management of teachers’ workload.
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