Education Minister Sarah Mitchell wants 2500 HALT teachers by 2025. She said the application process would be streamlined to reduce red tape and teachers would be given clearer guidelines on how to provide evidence of their quality teaching,as well as feedback on their application.
“The quality of teachers across NSW is world-class,but we haven’t seen that reflected in the number of teachers putting their hand up for higher levels of accreditation,which also attract a higher pay rate,” she said.
“This is something I want to see more of – teachers being recognised and remunerated for their impact – and I hope to see the number of HALT teachers grow to at least 2500 by 2025.”
Australian schools are facing growing teacher shortages in many geographical areas and disciplines,and surveys have shown some potential recruits are put off by the lack of opportunities for career progression if they stay in the classroom,as well as by relatively low pay compared with other professions.
In NSW,assistant principals and head teachers earn $126,528.00,HALTs earn $117,060 and classroom teachers at the top of the salary scale earn $109,978. Many teachers have been put off applying for HALT status because they feel the extra pay does not offset the complexity of the application process.
When NSW adopted the HALT certification – it was introduced nationally in 2012 – it aimed to have 1110 top teachers by 2022 but a report from the NSW Audit office said that in 2019,the target was halved to 530.