A chronic lack of teachers in public primary schools across Armidale has prompted the teachers union to put pressure on MP Adam Marshall to "stand-up" in NSW state parliament.
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About 20 teachers were absent across three schools in Armidale on Monday, forcing classroom mergers and the cancellation of lessons including a literacy program for years seven and nine students.
Armidale Secondary College was reportedly missing 13 teachers which resulted in the cancellation of a wellbeing program, four hours of lesson preparation time and the merging of four junior classes and two senior classes.
Drummond Memorial Public School had four teachers absent, resulting in a class being split, closure of the library, and the withdrawal of English language support to refugee students.
And three teachers were absent at Guyra Central School which resulted in the cancellation of eight hours of lesson preparation time and the merging of four classes.
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It is just a smaller snapshot of the bigger problem, said Armidale Teachers' Association president Michael Sciffer.
The union is expected to call on New England MP Adam Marshall to meet with them this month, where they will ask him to "stand up" in the NSW State Parliament to request more government funding and support for local teachers.
Mr Sciffer said the crisis is expected to worsen as decreases in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and an increase in teacher retirements are predicted to clash with significant student enrolments in coming years.
The group wants the state government to act now by investing in salary increases and training for incoming teachers, concerns of which were outlined in the 2021-published Gallop Report recommendations.
Mr Sciffer said there should be a rise in staff salaries to make their income equivalent with the private sector, which would mean a five to 7.5 per cent salary hike every year for the next three years.
And the burgeoning workload of teachers needs to be addressed, Mr Sciffer said.
"Teachers are being headhunted in Armidale by other organisations offering more money and shorter hours of work," he said.
"They're resigning to take paycuts so they can have a better work-life balance with their own children.
"What that simply means is that we have classes without teachers in front of them. It's extremely disheartening when everyday you see students' learning disrupted. It is just really depressing."
Mr Marshall said he is happy to meet with the union to address their concerns.
"It's incredibly concerning, but sadly, not so much surprising," he said of the chronic teacher shortage across the Northern Tablelands.
"This has been a trend for the last 10-15 years but has become more acute and exacerbated by the impacts of COVID.
"We are seeing more teachers leaving the education system because of burnout, retirement and there simply not being enough new teachers coming into the system."
Mr Marshall put a motion on the notice paper in NSW parliament last week to have the issues related to the chronic teacher shortages in his electorate addressed soon.
Teachers' salaries are often the last thing that gets raised, Mr Marshall said of the meetings he has had with principals and teachers across his electorate.
"It's not the silver bullet," he said. "Based on the feedback I have received, salaries alone won't address the issue.
"It is also about how teachers feel they are valued by society at large, by governments at large, by the (education) department.
"It's also about how they are supported in and out of the classroom in their role and in their professional development."
ACM has contacted the NSW Department of Education for more statistics about teacher absenteeism.
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