“These changes future-proof that trust – ensuring every new teacher meets high national standards for their qualifications, and is equipped with the skills, knowledge and preparation needed to succeed from day one,” Fletcher said.
While the rule changes do not cover the state’s private or Catholic schools, the Allan government has asked the authorities that govern them – Victoria Catholic Education Authority and Independent Schools Victoria – to consider a similar ban “to prevent the undermining of nationally consistent standards of initial teacher education programs and graduates”.
Victorian Institute of Teaching CEO Martin Fletcher welcomed a government ban on employing underqualified teachers registering via mutual recognition pathways from other states.Credit: Wayne Taylor
The Catholic Education Authority is set to consider the request, and chief executive Professor Elizabeth Labone said Victoria’s Catholic schools were committed to providing the highest quality of education possible to the students in their care.
Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Rachel Holthouse said her group respected the government’s decision regarding one-year graduate diplomas in education and would “continue to work closely with them” as it responds to the request.
The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s nationally agreed standard requires all postgraduate initial teacher education programs to be two years. But facing a growing teacher shortage, the Teaching Registration Board of Western Australia last year stepped away from the agreed standard and reintroduced registration for graduates who complete only a one-year diploma of education.
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Australia’s mutual recognition laws have also created a watering down of standards in other industries. This masthead has revealed a similar loophole being exploited by underqualified building surveyors via WA, and construction workers using forged documents and lax checking by Queensland regulators.
The Victorian Institute of Teaching has already received 22 mutual recognition applications from WA-registered teachers with one-year diplomas, and is expecting a far larger influx of underqualified registrants later this year when current diploma students graduate.
The NSW Education Standards Authority confirmed it had also received mutual recognition applications from WA diploma of education graduates, which acting NSW Education Minister Courtney Houssos described in July as “cutting corners and under-preparing teachers for expert classroom practice”.
A spokesperson for the authority said it was not yet ready to announce any action to address the issue there.
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