More than six in ten Tasmanian public school principals who participated in a survey by the Australian Education Union say they started Term 3 without enough teachers.
The survey found 66% of responding principals were missing at least one teacher, with schools reporting an average vacancy rate of 1.86 full-time equivalent positions.
It drew responses from 30 of Tasmania’s 192 government schools, representing roughly 16% of public schools statewide.
Principals reported senior staff, including principals and assistant principals, being pulled out of leadership roles and back into classrooms to keep lessons running after being unable to find relief teachers.
Several schools also reported increased reliance on teaching students working under Limited Authority to Teach arrangements to cover gaps.
AEU Tasmania President David Genford said schools were operating under constant strain.
“When principals are forced back to the classroom to cover vacancies, that means less time supporting staff, working with students and families and dealing with increasingly complex issues,” he said.
“Teachers are already carrying enormous workloads. Teaching vacancies mean larger classes, lost planning time and more pressure on the staff who remain.”
Genford called on the government to deliver on promises around school violence and support for complex classrooms, saying they were “critical to retaining the teachers we already have and attracting the teachers we desperately need.”
Opposition Leader Josh Willie said the government’s plan to cut $228 million from the education department would make things worse, with $192 million coming from in-school education alone.
“Every dollar Eric Abetz cuts from education will result in more students being taught in classrooms without proper support, with outdated resources, by over-stretched educators,” he said.
Education Minister Jo Palmer pushed back on the findings, saying permanent teaching vacancies represented less than 1% of the government school teaching workforce at the start of Term 3.
She said the government had added 484 full-time equivalent teaching positions since coming to office in 2014.
“Thanks to this ongoing work, Tasmania now has the second best government school teaching staff to student ratio in the country,” Palmer said.
