Teachers on tap to beat shortages

By Tania Martin
THE Shire of Yarra Ranges has set up a relief bank for pre-school teachers to tackle staff shortages.
Lyster Ward councillor Samantha Dunn said the shortage of pre-school teachers had reached a critical point throughout the shire.
She said the relief bank would assist many schools with staffing problems.
Cr Dunn said the employment of qualified staff was an important factor in establishing a high quality early learning environment.
She said a number of pre-schools in the shire had been advertising for qualified staff for months with little or no success.
Cr Dunn said without staff, kinder programs are potentially threatened.
“We hope the relief bank may ease the pressure for many local preschools,” she said.
Shire family and children’s services officer Christine Brown said there were not enough graduate preschool teachers to meet the demands for qualified staff in rural and regional areas.
Ms Brown said that a lot of graduates also felt that the Yarra Ranges was too far away to travel and have opted to work in municipalities in the inner or western suburbs.
But she said the shire was the ideal location for preschool employment as it has the largest number of schools in the eastern region.
The council is now calling for expressions of interest from qualified preschool teachers who want to join the relief bank program to help fill the shortfall of teachers.
Teachers wanting to express their interest in the relief bank program can call Claire Rock on 9294 6558.