New data has revealed most public school principals are concerned about impending teacher shortages.
A survey by the Australian Education Union (AEU) Victorian branch revealed almost 90 per cent of public school principals were concerned about not being able to fill teaching positions in 2023.
The survey was conducted across primary, secondary and special schools in metropolitan Melbourne and regional and rural Victoria.
Almost 50 per cent of all principals surveyed said they were "greatly concerned" about their ability to fill teacher vacancies for the start of the 2023 school year, and 39.8 per cent said they were 'concerned'.
AEU Victoria president Meredith Peace said survey results revealed the severity of the teacher shortage in Victoria.
"The state government's obligation to ensure all children can access high-quality public education must be matched by investment in the profession," she said.
"Principals worrying about not having enough teachers and staff to fill classroom vacancies by next year shows just how acute the teacher shortage crisis is a reality."
"The effects are already being felt in classrooms across the state, with a significant number of principals alarmed by the lack of applicants to fill teacher and support staff vacancies in schools."
The Gazette contacted several primary and secondary schools in the Baw Baw Shire and received a reply from Marist-Sion College principal Lisa Harkin.
Ms Harkin said Marist-Sion had undertaken strategic planning for staffing next year and was actively recruiting to fill teaching places.
"We believe Marist-Sion is in a good position to attract and retain high-quality teaching staff."
"Our reputation for providing flexibility and a supportive staff culture, competitive remuneration and professional development opportunities are major recruiting strengths," she said.
Ms Harkin said it had been a challenging two years with the pandemic, however, the biggest challenge Marist-Sion College has faced this year has been a rise in cold and flu cases - which she said had increased staff absences.
"Flexibility to support staff and families has been an important focus at Marist-Sion throughout.
"We value and applaud our staff for the strong collegial support shown during this period, attuning to the needs of students, other staff and the College community," she said.
The AEU released a ten-year plan last month that outlined recommendations for the Victorian government to "attract and retain" teachers.
The plan recommended retention payments be paid to existing staff in kindergartens, public schools and TAFE as incentives to keep them in the workforce, government-funded studentships providing cost of living financial support be provided to Victorian students undertaking initial teacher education and secure ongoing employment in rural, regional and hard to staff schools.
The plan also suggested the Department of Education centrally employ a significant pool of initial teacher education graduates to ensure a supply of teachers for 2023 and to provide certainty for graduates, and further workload reductions be put in place.