ORANGE teachers will join their NSW Teachers Federation counterparts across the state and take strike action on Wednesday with a regional rally to be staged at Towac Park.
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The NSWTF State Executive announced its unanimous decision to proceed with strike action earlier this week and placed a ban on all new government policies and initiatives due for implementation from the first day of this term.
They were also authorised to walk off the school campus if a NSW Government MP enters school grounds.
A poll released earlier this week found that of 5220 teachers polled in regional areas, 72 per cent were reconsidering their position due to workload, which 73 per cent said was unmanageable.
Of those surveyed, 82 per cent say staff shortages are impacting on their workload.
Member for Orange Phil Donato raised the matter in NSW Parliament in March when he revealed the startling impact of staff shortages at The Canobolas Rural Technology High School where 850 classes were merged in 2021.
That number was been surpassed in term one this year according to the school's NSWTF organiser.
NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos said the Premier has failed students, their parents, and the teaching profession.
"The Department of Education's own figures show that there were 48 vacant permanent teaching positions in the electorate of Orange last October," Mr Gavrielatos said.
"If we don't pay teachers what they are worth, we won't get the teachers we need.
"That the Government is pursuing a new Award that seeks to impose a 2.04 per cent salary cap, with no change to the crippling working conditions experienced by the profession for a three-year period, is contemptuous."
Mr Gavroelatos said a fundamental role of government was to ensure a qualified teacher in every classroom.
"The teacher shortage has created a crisis in our classrooms. As of February, there were a total of 2,383 permanent vacancies across 1,251 schools in NSW.
"Government report after government report has stated the main reasons why people don't want to enter the profession and why teachers don't want to stay in the profession are unsustainable workloads and uncompetitive salaries."
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