Wednesday, 6 March 2024

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:34): (766) My adjournment is for the Minister for Education, and the action that I seek is a commitment to release the 2022 teacher supply and demand report so we can properly assess and address the teacher shortage in this state. In December last year the Department of Education’s teacher application rate showed that outer Gippsland secondary schools were among the hardest hit by Victoria’s teacher shortage, with an average of 0.7 applications per job. Nine out of 10 principals in the region reported a teacher shortage. I have been contacted by a parent whose child attends a senior high school in the area. It is halfway through the first term and the child still does not have a science teacher, yet we do not know the extent of the problem because the government continues to bury the 2022 teacher supply and demand report. Schools and families are being left in the dark. This hits regional schools the hardest. It means students miss out on a consistent quality education and are behind their suburban and private school peers. This is unacceptable, so will the Minister for Education release the report?