A looming shortage of teachers, large class sizes and a lack of teacher training are some chief concerns revealed by the staff in Australia’s Schools survey.
Australian Education Union president Angelo Gavrielatos said the study showed Australia’s quality of education had been adversely affected by oversized classes.
“This is the first time the SIAS survey has asked about class sizes, and we have discovered that class sizes in Australian primary schools are at an average of 24.5 students,” Mr Gavrielatos said.
“But what is more concerning is that we have a situation where 40 per cent of primary school classes have 26 or more students,” he said. “This is far too high and makes it hard to provide students with the individual attention that they need and parents expect.”
The survey covered about 20,000 teachers and school leaders from state, Catholic and independent schools across the country.