The state’s largest parents’ association says being more transparent with families would ease anger and anxiety about the current teaching crisis.
Parents Victoria chief executive Gail McHardy said the education department, schools and teachers should be “upfront” about staff shortages and the resulting challenges.
While the education department, schools and teachers had “direct internal knowledge and understanding of the challenges and impacts on their school at any given time” parents were often left in the dark.
“Being upfront on how the school is impacted … due to a lack of employees, will prevent blame, anxiety and anger at schools and invite more empathy and understanding of the problems schools are currently facing that is beyond their control,” Ms McHardy said.
She said parents and students were seeing classes split and a high number of casual relief teachers being used as schools struggled to fill vacancies.
The Herald-Sun and Leader newspapers reported recently on the teacher shortage in Victorian schools. The article is headlined, “Parents call for transparency as teaching crisis deepens“, and quotes Parents Victoria CEO Gail McHardy:
Read the full Herald-Sun article (subscription only)
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