Teach For Australia has welcomed today’s announcement from the Victorian Government of new, accelerated pathways to the classroom for aspiring teachers.
The Fast-Tracking Professionals Into Teaching Careers initiative, announced by Minister James Merlino and Minister Ingrid Stitt, will help 500 aspiring school teachers and 76 early childhood teachers begin their classroom teaching experience while completing Masters study.
The scheme will help schools in outer-metropolitan, rural and regional locations fill in-demand subject areas like STEM, languages and specialist education.
“Teaching is a vitally important profession and every child, no matter where they live or go to school in Victoria, deserves teachers who are passionate about helping them learn,” Teach For Australia (TFA) CEO Melodie Potts Rosevear said.
“We know from our experience supporting schools in outer-suburban and regional Victoria that many struggle to find the subject specialist teachers they need. TFA has demonstrated great success helping these schools solve this challenge, and we have seen how this leads to great outcomes for their students and communities”.
TFA has partnered with the Victorian Government since 2009 to put outstanding subject experts and classroom leaders into secondary schools around Victoria, with around half in rural and regional locations.
“As Australia’s original and leading graduate employment-based pathway into secondary school teaching, we are pleased to see the Victorian Government taking up a similar approach, including to help fill early childhood positions,” Ms Potts Rosevear said.
“Tackling the education inequity that persists in Victoria, and around Australia, is a collective responsibility and we will continue to share TFA expertise in recruiting and training high quality teachers to help with this work.”
TFA’s innovative employment-based teaching pathway, the Leadership Development Program, has already placed over 500 new teachers in Victoria. TFA has also developed and implemented professional development programs preparing mid-career teachers for school leadership roles.
For 11 years, TFA has worked exclusively with schools that serve low socioeconomic communities, supporting them to improve student and school outcomes.
