Western Metropolitan Region
Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (14:01): (1763) My question is for the Minister for Education in the other place, and it is from a resident in Burnside Heights. When will the minister remove vaccine mandates for teachers in line with the other states to provide our children with some consistency in their education? My constituent’s daughter attends secondary school in Caroline Springs. Since week 4 of term 1 her class has not had a permanent English or humanities teacher and has only received casual relief teachers for both these subjects. Term 2 has just commenced and the situation is not any better, with permanent teachers still not allocated for these subjects. To add to the gravity of the situation her class is also experiencing relief teachers for other subjects on a daily basis, and it is not uncommon for five out of the six sessions per day to be filled with relief teachers. It is clear that Victorian children have fallen behind the rest of the country and they need permanent teachers.