Melton and Moorabool teachers are buckling under workloads that include at least 14 hours of unpaid overtime every week.
And the extra strain is having a negative impact on the quality of teaching and student learning, the Australian Council of Educational Research workload survey reports.
The research, commissioned by the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union, reveals regional teachers are working more than 53 hours a week, while principals work more than 60 hours. AEU Victorian president Meredith Peace described the workloads as reaching “crisis point”.
Staff, she said, are doing more with less and working longer hours to ensure students don’t miss out on quality education.
“Ninety per cent of teachers in the region say that their workload negatively affects the quality of their teaching,” Ms Peace said.
“And more than 80 per cent of local teachers don’t have enough time to plan their classes to the level that they would want. It’s completely unsustainable.”
Melton and Moorabool teachers were among 13,000 staff surveyed statewide. Of these, about a third said they regularly consider leaving their profession.
Ms Peace said doing so much unpaid work took its toll on teachers, who find it difficult to give students the individual support they need.
And teachers are not left with enough time to complete their job, including lesson planning and assessing student learning.
Ms Peace has blamed the lack of classroom support for teachers on the “chronic underfunding” of Victorian public schools.
“Teachers in Melton and Moorabool need more time incorporated into their working week,” Ms Peace said.
“The best way to do this is to increase the amount of planning and preparation time that teachers have.”
The state government was asked to comment.
