Teacher shortages continue to impact regional schools as a scathing report found “considerable gaps” still exist between metropolitan and regional students’ access to education in NSW. Leeton teacher and Teachers Federation representative Luke Di Salvia of Leeton and formerly Narrandera said the lack of data being gathered was “concerning” but he was unsurprised at the report’s findings around teacher shortages.

“How can you expect rural and remote kids to meet standards when you can’t get staff in classrooms?” he said.

NSW Auditor-General Margaret Crawford last week handed down a 65-page report examining the effectiveness of the former government’s four-year Rural and Remote Education Strategy.

The report found the strategy had little impact in more than two years and was unlikely to achieve its goal to ensure every child in regional NSW had access to the same quality of education as their metropolitan peers.

Ms Crawford found shortcomings and delays in the design and implementation of the strategy, saying “there was not enough work put in to plan for successful implementation”, and has called for a long-term strategy to be developed.

She said the state’s Department of Education did not take on lessons from the previous strategy and did not provide additional resources to meet outcomes.

“The department is not addressing the complexities of delivering regional, rural and remote early childhood, school education and skills pathways,” she said.

Gaps included a lack of timelines on implementing actions or monitoring progress the report found.

“The strategy has an overall time frame of 2021–2024 but does not clarify when it expects the vision, goals, or aims to be achieved, or actions to be implemented,” the report stated.

Ms Crawford was also scathing of the department’s reporting on the outcomes of the strategy, writing that “two years after its release, there has not been any public reporting”.

The report found ongoing challenges with attracting and retaining staff were compromising quality education in regional and rural communities.

It noted many teachers were forced to teach subjects they were not trained in and were not given the chance to undertake professional development and also found that students in regional and remote communities had worse attendance, numeracy, literacy and educational outcomes than their city counterparts.

Ms Crawford acknowledged that specific programs had been developed to deliver services in regional and remote communities, but their effectiveness had not been assessed.

“The department does not monitor data to determine whether these programs are sufficient to close the persistent gaps in access and outcomes for regional, rural and remote students,” she said.

Mr Di Salvia said the report reflected the experiences of teachers on the ground.

Education Minister Prue Car said the report showed the former government’s strategy had been “just spin”.

She said she was in discussions with the Department of Education secretary about changes that could be implemented immediately.

“One way we can make sure our children are achieving the best of their potential is making sure they’ve got a teacher in front of them,” she said. 

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 17 August 2023.