Teachers offered $50,000 cash incentive to work at Victoria’s most challenging schools

Teachers will be offered incentive payments of up to $50,000 if they are willing to work at the state’s most challenging schools, under a new state government policy.

The funding will be available not only for teachers who go to rural schools, but also for those who take up positions at hard-to-staff schools in metropolitan Melbourne.

Teachers who remain in difficult to fill roles will also be eligible for retention payments of up to $9000 a year, for three years, under the scheme.

Victorian President of the Australian Education Union, Meredith Peace, said she approves of the move.

“These incentive payments are being offered for hard-to-staff schools … that’s both our rural and regional schools as well as some areas in our metropolitan and outer metropolitan areas,” she told 3AW’s Ross and John.

“At the moment we have children in classrooms where a school is unable to get a teacher, so they might have relief teachers in covering classes or it might be that they’ve got a qualified teacher who is teaching outside of their direct area of expertise.”

But Ms Peace denied there are problematic schools akin to the fictional St Trinian’s in Victoria.

“I think there’s a whole variety of reasons that people don’t want to work in particular schools,” she said.

The new state government policy comes as part of a $244.6 million package to improve the education system in Victoria.

Press PLAY below for the full interview.