Teaching and Assistant Principal Workload

TEACHING AND ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL WORKLOAD
Page: 19404

Mr RICHARD TORBAY (Northern Tablelands—Speaker) [5.51 p.m.]: Teaching principals and assistant principals in New South Wales public schools are being placed under unprecedented pressure to meet expanding administrative and compliance responsibilities. I have a list from the NSW Primary Principals Association of approximately 80 tasks they are being asked to undertake in addition to normal teaching loads. The Government has generated most of these tasks as initiatives to improve school governance, accountability and teaching quality. The responsibility for carriage of these tasks invariably falls on the shoulders of school principals and their deputies. No-one would quarrel with the necessity for these education reforms. In fact, I am advised that the Minister addressed the conference of the NSW Primary Principals Association and I acknowledge that her address was well received. But it is unjust that executive staff who teach full-time should be required to undertake this extra work after hours.

Many of these experienced executive teachers are leaving the profession through stress, burnout and justified outrage at the inequity of their situation. Principals of 600 public schools in New South Wales with fewer than 160 students currently have a full teaching responsibility. As well as that, they have to meet the same administrative requirements as principals of schools with more than 160 students who are class free. The increasing demands of the Department of Education and Training, parents and compliance agendas such as occupational health and safety, are resulting in principals being overcommitted. Surveys conducted by the NSW Primary Principals Association in 2005, 2007 and 2009 bear this out. They detail the deteriorating situation and the need for immediate action.

A similar situation is developing in larger primary schools where assistant principals have little administrative release to assist their principals in the day-to-day management of an increasing number of issues outside the classroom. There is also a strong feeling of injustice that the secondary school executive enjoys these allowances without question. Both the Federal and State governments regularly articulate the need for sound school leadership, seek improved student outcomes and acknowledge the need to assist early career teachers. In the case of primary schools with teaching principals, all these responsibilities are delegated without the appropriate time release from classroom duties, to guide and mentor new teachers, implement new programs, conduct professional learning and meet compliance and accountability demands.

A remarkable 86 per cent of teaching principals replied to the 2009 survey on workload and its impact on student learning and the health of principals. They signalled an urgent need for administrative release to alleviate excessive workloads and lower increasing trends of serious stress-related sickness, burnout and early retirement; to support student learning outcomes and staff development and welfare; to promote excellence in leadership and to enhance opportunities for professional learning in schools and across networks; and to provide equity with non-teaching principals, secondary head teachers, the Catholic system and other States. I recently met with members of the Primary Principals Association in Sydney regarding their agenda to remedy the situation. They are calling for one day per week for principal PP6s and assistant principals; 2.5 days per week for principal PP5s and deputy principals, and 0.5 day per week for each six permanent members of staff.

This pressing issue affects the workloads of principals who teach, lead and manage around one-quarter of the schools in New South Wales. While it is evident that they are highly effective, this is coming at an unacceptable cost to their health and family welfare. It is also important to note that we are not just discussing schools in remote and isolated rural areas. The demographic has changed dramatically and it is more universal than that. For each rural and remote school in New South Wales there are now three metro and coastal small schools with teaching principals. It has been estimated that the $64 million per annum to provide the release time for teaching and assistant principals would amount to approximately half of one per cent of the State education budget. The removal of the 1 per cent efficiency saving requested by the Department of Education and Training would neutralise this cost immediately.

The NSW Primary Principals Association has presented a submission to Treasury to seek this action. This submission has been structured for implementation over three years to assist with making this important reform achievable in what I acknowledge are very tight economic times. This matter should be seriously considered because it is very important to the public education system of our State.