Teacher vacancies have halved in Queanbeyan public schools since November 2022, and a new program aims to make it even lower by attracting community members into the teaching profession.

The NSW Government’s Grow Your Own Local Teacher Pipeline (LTP) program will attract aspiring teachers with generous training allowances and in-classroom experience. In return, participants are required to teach in a NSW public school within an agreed location for three years.

Queanbeyan joins western and south-western Sydney, Dubbo and the Murray regions in being targeted by the program because of its particularly high demand for teachers.

Schools in the city have struggled to maintain teachers after 12 years of the former government’s public sector wage cap, while schools over the ACT border were paying among the best teacher wages in the country.

The NSW Government has begun to address the challenge by removing the wages cap and delivering NSW public school teachers the highest pay rise in a generation, making NSW teachers among Australia’s best paid.

The NSW Government has also converted the jobs of more than 9000 temporary teachers across NSW into permanent roles, including 36 at Queanbeyan schools.

The Grow Your Own Local Teacher Pipeline program will build on inroads being made across the state by the wage rise and temporary to permanent conversions, with a focus on attracting and retaining teachers in areas most in need.

Candidates from Queanbeyan will be among 75 prospective teachers across the state who will be supported to complete an education qualification under the program, starting in Term 1, 2024.

Eligible schools have helped to identify local people with teaching potential for the program, including career changers, school administration and support staff, high school leavers and other community members.

Successful candidates are offered a range of financial and other incentives to train as teachers.

The program works with interested schools to identify which subjects are most in-need locally. Schools take part in the recruitment process to ensure participants are the right fit for their school communities.

Program participants will be offered a place in one of three pathways to a qualification:

• Undergraduate pathway, with a $30,000 training allowance over four years
• Postgraduate pathway, with a $30,000 training allowance over two years
  
• Industry Experience pathway, with a $30,000 training allowance over two years and a retention incentive of up to $30,000 paid over the first three years of teaching in a NSW public school in an agreed location.

Participants will work one day a week in a local NSW public secondary school while completing their studies, and once qualified will be committed to teach in a NSW public school in an agreed location for a minimum of three years.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:

“Fixing the teacher shortage is one of the NSW Government’s highest priorities, which is why we’ve delivered a once-in-a-generation wage rise, made thousands of temporary teachers permanent and are investing in programs like the Grow Your Own local teacher pipeline.

“We’ve already seen a significant drop in vacancies in the Queanbeyan area over the last 12 months and we are determined to keep working to restore teaching as a career of choice in NSW.”

Monaro MP Steve Whan said:

“I heard from many teachers before and during the election campaign about the challenges local schools have been facing, and I am very pleased to see this improvement as the Minns Labor Government prioritises fixing the teacher shortage.

“This Grow Your Own local teacher pipeline initiative builds on the huge boost we have had by removing the Liberal National wages cap and giving teachers a decent pay increase, and by providing permanent jobs for so many people left without job security by the former government.”