Teachers willing to work in Melbourne’s most challenging schools will be offered incentive payments of up to $50,000. The initial payment will be followed by a further $9,000 per year as long as the teacher remains in the position.
However, teachers who already fill these positions will not be eligible for the incentive program.
This bonus is a part of the Andrews Government $244.6 million package that aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
The decision was announced today by the Minister for Education James Merlino, who has labelled the initiative as “the biggest investment in our education workforce in this state’s history”.
“Great teachers change lives. That’s why we’re working so hard to attract the best people to teaching and supporting them to stay in our classrooms,” he said.
The investment also seeks to encourage high-performing teachers to transfer into understaffed schools struggling to allocate teachers in subjects such as maths and science.
Specialised roles will also be created, this includes 40 executive principals, nine turnaround teams, and learning specialists – who are highly skilled educators advising other teachers. Specialist learning communities will also be introduced to Victorian government schools. The overall justification for these new roles is to boost school performance.
Other incentives are provided to the brightest university graduates and individuals with experience in other careers to make the switch to teaching.
$93.9 million of the package will be dedicated to regional and rural schools to improve educational outcomes and better support students in these areas. The aim is also to address the disparity between regional and metropolitan education.
Merlino rationalises the package by providing that students need to have access to a “great local school and a quality education, no matter where they live”.
“Investing in our workforce is absolutely critical to ensure we get better outcomes for students, as we continue to make Victoria the Education State,” he said.
Photo: ‘Noble Park Secondary College’ by モハメッド一二三 available here
Monique Naumovski is a second-year Bachelor of Media and Communications (Journalism) student at La Trobe University. You can follow her on Twitter @moniquenaum.
