Education expert reacts to MP’s ‘unrealistic’ plan for teachers

A proposal to increase teachers’ pay by 10 per cent in exchange for having them stay on school grounds from 8am to 5pm, including during school holidays, has been deemed ‘unrealistic’ by an education expert.

The plan has been proposed by One Nation MP Mark Latham, who has concerns about the public perception surrounding teachers and the amount of hours they work.

Associate Professor at Deakin University, Linda Hobbs, says while teachers may not be on site outside of school hours, they are putting in the work already.

“The initial reaction having been a teacher and working with teachers is that a lot of teachers are doing this work anyway and I would say that most people would recognise that teachers are doing this work,” she said.

“It’s actually a very difficult job to be a teacher and teachers often will use their time flexibly.”

“It seems unrealistic and not really appreciating the pressures that teachers are under, the realities of teaching and what’s actually going to work to attract teachers.”

Press PLAY to hear the Professor’s full reaction to the proposed plan