The strategy prioritises 3 areas:
- Growing the overall supply of teachers so that we can continue to meet demand now and into the future.
- Encouraging more teachers to train in high-need and specialist areas.
- Strengthening the supply of quality teachers in regional communities to provide targeted support for students in the places it is needed.
1. Grow overall supply of teachers
- Recruit teachers beyond NSW - interstate and internationally
- Roll out targeted awareness-raising campaigns of employment opportunities
- Improve perceptions of teaching
- Accelerate careers of high-performing teachers through programs such as FASTstream
- Help rural and remote schools access casual teachers where they are needed most.
2. Encourage more teachers to train in high-need and specialist subject areas
- Provide accelerated mid-career pathways for existing teachers and experienced subject matter professionals
- Provide targeted teacher retraining in high-demand subject areas
- Expand scholarships for teacher retraining in Inclusive Education
- Provide new pathways for School Learning Support Officers and locally-based students to become teachers
- Collaborate with the university sector to access new Technological and Applied Studies teaching places via pilot programs.
3. Provide targeted teaching support for students in the places it is needed
- $15 million of immediate investment based on the Rural and Remote Incentives Review
- Increase teach.Rural scholarships to attract high quality teachers to rural and remote areas
- Expand the Rural Experience Program to encourage metropolitan teachers to complete a trial placement in a rural school
- Identify and support high potential secondary students from regional communities to become teachers via the Grow Your Own pilot program
- Support for Rural Beginners to help new teachers settle into regional communities.