The Victorian Government has announced a new $244.6 million investment that aims to improve the quality of classroom teaching and learning through the provision of extra resources, training and incentives.
Launched on 9 October 2019 by Victorian Education Minister James Merlino, the $244.6 million investment includes $41.7 million in financial incentives, including up to $50,000 to encourage teachers to work in hard-to-staff positions and schools, and yearly retention payments of up to $9000 for three years to encourage teachers to remain in these positions for longer periods.
$5.6 million will be dedicated to employment-based pathways into teaching, aiming to attract the best and brightest university graduates. Those with career experience can learn-on-the-job as a teacher, while simultaneously studying for postgraduate teaching qualifications at university.
A further $41.5 million will go towards supporting Victoria’s best school leaders to take on challenging and specialised roles. Over 40 executive principals will be employed to take on the most complex school leadership roles in Victoria, while nine additional Turnaround Teams will work to drive school improvement.
To recruit, train and support Learning Specialists in Victoria’s government schools, $25.2 million will be invested.
And finally, $68.4 million will be invested to extend Professional Learning Communities to all Victorian government schools.
“This is the biggest investment in our education workforce in this state’s history. Our teachers work extremely hard to give our kids the best education, and we want to give them the support they deserve,” said Victorian Minister for Education James Merlino. “Investing in our workforce is absolutely critical to ensure we get better outcomes for students.
“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.”
