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Pat Byrne
Published in the Kalgoorlie Miner
As students, teachers, school leaders and other
staff head back to regional and remote schools across the State, there are
several issues which will follow them into the new school year.
Attracting experienced staff to schools in rural
and remote areas has been an ongoing challenge for many years.
Because of geographic, job quality or perceived
disadvantages, regional and remote schools are not considered by many education
staff when thinking about applying for jobs.
Ahead of the March State election, the State School
Teachers Union of WA is calling on all major political parties to put our
children first and commit to properly resourcing public education, particularly
in regional and remote areas.
There are several barriers to employment the union
has identified in rural WA, and we are asking the politicians to commit to
addressing them.
One of the major impediments to attracting
experienced teachers to regional schools is the very limited staff transfer
system.
The current system offers little incentive or
reward for regional school placement and makes movement back to metropolitan
schools challenging.
Greater flexibility in the system to guarantee a
pathway of return from regional to metropolitan schools would go a long way to
encouraging more principals and teachers to apply for regional positions.
The union also believes there needs to be a focus
on providing appropriate, affordable, clean and regularly maintained
accommodation in regional and remote communities for teachers and school
leaders.
Government Regional officer housing standards have
declined significantly during the past decade.
Housing and rent assistance, particularly in
regional locations in the Pilbara and Kimberley, does not adequately cover rental
and living costs.
The sale of the GROH portfolio and its assets, as
flagged in the 2015 State Budget, has and will continue to further limit
affordable housing options.
If GROH is privatised, the service will be forced
to cut costs in order to ensure a profit, which will further reduce standards.
The union is calling for the sale of GROH to be
abandoned.
We are also seeking a review of the current policy
by which rents are set, particularly in relation to the calculation of rents
being based on Perth median rental prices, age of the house, quality of the
house and its distance from a major centre.
We are asking for a continuation of the freeze of
the 2017 GROH rent increases for teachers and school leaders, and a commitment
there will be no further increases for the term of the next State Government.
In addition, there needs to be an increase in
spending on GROH maintenance to ensure accommodation in regional and remote
areas is up to scratch.
Another issue highlighted by principals and
teachers is the lack of support in the regions.
The reduction in regional office staffing has had a
significant impact on the level of support available for regional schools,
including curriculum support, professional development, help for struggling
students (both in academic and mental health areas) and operations management.
It is recognised that for rural areas the current
model is not suited because of geographic challenges.
In particular, union members have reported a lack
of relief teacher availability in regional schools.
The union believes district office level support
should be reinstated, and funded mentor positions for new teachers should be
introduced.
The relief teacher flying squad should be expanded
to ensure access to relief teachers when they are needed.
Every child in this State, irrespective of where
they live, should have access to high-quality public education.
Attracting and retaining high-quality teachers in
the regions is central to this.
The union has sent a list of these considerations,
as well as others, to the major political parties in the lead-up to the
election on March 13.
For the sake of all rural and remote public school students, they need to listen.
Source: Byrne, Pat. 3 February 2021. "Put children first and properly resource education in the regions". The Kalgoorlie Miner, p6.
