Page 1499 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 1 June 2022
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violence stories”. It included stories such as that of a nine-year-old boy who felt that—and I quote:
… all hope is lost after being punched, kicked and strangled in the schoolyard, remains in the same class as the child responsible.
Another story reads:
A family was forced to send their daughter interstate to escape bullying and violence at school …
In 2021 the Australian Principals Occupational Health and Wellbeing Survey showed that 44 per cent of school leaders had been subjected to threats of violence, 39 per cent of school leaders had been subjected to physical violence, 33 per cent of school leaders have been subjected to bullying, 31 per cent of school leaders have been subjected to cyberbullying, and 31 per cent of school leaders have been subjected to both threat of violence and physical violence. One of the key findings was about the stress of teacher shortages. A finding was:
Teacher shortages are now at their highest rank as a source of stress across the decade of this survey.
The warnings in these reports were echoed again by the report that was released by the ACT division of the Australian Education Union last year. The report was called Under-staffed, under-resourced, under-appreciated: the teacher shortage and its impact on our schools. Let me quote from that:
The extent of staff shortages is undeniable, with 91% of respondents telling us that their school is negatively impacted by a shortage of staff.
This is a view overwhelmingly shared regardless of employee classification or setting.
Almost all respondents (95%) say the impacts are ‘serious’.
As well as the stress on teachers and the violence used against students and teachers alike, the shortage has created a massive risk for learning in the system right now. Again, I quote from the AEU report:
The staffing pressure on the public education system has direct consequences for students.
Almost all respondents … feel that students are disadvantaged and their learning outcomes compromised.
Finally, the report puts the blame squarely on resources. While acknowledging that it is a difficult and complex system, it states:
In relation to overall resources, 70% of respondents say that schools are not sufficiently resourced to provide the consistent quality of education that their students need to succeed.
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