Community
19 July, 2024
Program to combat teacher shortage
MORE than 300 education support staff and officers will have the chance to gain teaching qualifications in a bid to combat a country-wide shortage.
The state government-initiated program will allow education support staff and Koorie education support officers to gain teaching qualifications while working in schools.
Rural and regional education support staff who are employed in various roles such as teaching assistants, integration aides, and cultural liaison officers will be able to pursue a full teaching qualification and help combat the Australia-wide issue of teacher shortages.
Minister for Education Ben Carroll launched the $13.9 million initiative late last week.
The program will trial undergraduate-level employment-based teaching degrees to upskill staff working in Victorian government secondary and specialist schools.
The innovative and tailored program, set to start in 2025, will be delivered by Federation University Australia and La Trobe University.
It will support people to study and qualify as teachers while undertaking paid employment.
Participants will be supported with Department of Education-funded living expenses scholarships, relocation incentives, and mentoring support.
In the final years of the program, they will be eligible to start teaching as paraprofessionals.
Both universities’ programs will focus on supporting participation by Education Support staff in rural and regional Victoria.
At the same time, La Trobe University’s program will encourage participation from Koorie Education Support Officers.
The new undergraduate-level employment-based teaching degrees will further expand Victoria’s nation-leading suite of employment-based teaching degrees – known as the ‘Teach Today and Teach Tomorrow’ programs, currently available to postgraduate students.
“The undergraduate level employment-based teaching degree initiative opens up teaching to a broader pool of diverse candidates by supporting staff to gain teaching qualifications while working in our schools,” Minister for Education Ben Carroll said.
“The initiative is a way of removing financial and geographical barriers so that our schools can recruit the next generation of dedicated teachers.”
