Governments have a responsibility to provide high quality comprehensive public education for everyone. The Liberals have stopped listening to teachers, are short-changing schools and TAFE, and have no plan to attract and retain teachers in the public system.

With more Greens in the NSW parliament public schools and TAFE get the resourcing needed to meet all student’s needs, teachers get the pay and conditions they deserve, and teachers and students take their rightful place at the heart of all policy decisions.

HIGH QUALITY PUBLIC EDUCATION

THE GREENS NSW WILL: Immediately give all NSW public school teachers a minimum 15% pay rise and index wages to inflation for the next 2 years Provide an increase in Relief from Face-to-Face (RFF) teaching of 2 hours per week for all public-school primary teachers in NSW and 2 hours less Face-to-Face teaching for all High School teachers Deliver 100% of the School Resourcing Standard across NSW Develop a workforce plan in consultation with teachers, Universities, and the NSW Federation to recruit and retain 12,000 new teachers over the next 10 years Remove any demountable classroom that has been in operation for more than 3 years and replace with new classrooms Invest $1 Billion to the school maintenance backlog by 2026 Restore the 600 non-school based teaching positions that were lost a decade ago and deliver 400 new positions by 2027 Provide at least 1 additional school counsellor for every public school in NSW over the next 4 years and reach a target of 1 counsellor per 500 students by 2030

 

RESTORE TAFE

The salaries and conditions of TAFE teachers have not kept pace with the sectors, industries and professions they teach or the ever-increasing demands of their jobs. The current salary, conditions and workload of TAFE teachers has become a barrier to retaining existing teachers and the recruitment of new teachers. TAFE teachers are now paid less than school teachers despite being required to have additional expertise.

The Greens NSW and Australian Greens will ensure fair and just salary increases for TAFE teachers and reverse the casualisation of the TAFE workforce. The Greens will deliver 100% funding to TAFE from the State and Commonwealth budgets with no competition from private providers.

The Government has failed to properly resource TAFE, relying on less accountable private providers. Consequently, the number of available student places has declined (mostly in regional areas) further exacerbating skills shortages.

THE GREENS NSW WILL: Deliver a salary increase for TAFE teachers that is on par with school teachers Provide pathways to permanency for 10,000 casual TAFE teachers over the next 4 years Abolish the contestable funding model and guarantee 100% of all State and Federal vocational education budgets to TAFE Stop closing TAFE campuses Reduce administrative burdens Make TAFE free again for all students

 

UNIVERSAL PUBLIC PRESCHOOL

We know that access to quality education in the preschool years is key to a young person’s lifelong health and wellbeing, as well as being crucial to future prosperity.

Making profit from young children and families, as well as taxpayer subsidies, detracts from the primary focus of quality early childhood education. NSW has one of the highest levels of privatisation in early childhood education in the world with only 7.5% of approved services being publicly owned and run. Public pre-schools have demonstrated better outcomes and ensure that all parents and children have access to high quality early learning appropriate to their circumstances.

THE GREENS NSW WILL: Ensure free and universal preschool by 2030 Deliver 100 new government pre-schools in the next 3 years Increase before and after school care and remove privatisation incentives