Teacher retention rates on the rise

TEACHER resignations in NSW have fallen for the first time in 13 years and have dropped to their lowest rate since 2021.

Resignations in 2024 fell from 2,050 to 1,779. In the same year, the resignation rate for public school teachers in their first year of teaching fell from 4.7 per cent in 2023 to 3.5 per cent last year.

The rates show further improvement in teachers with longer tenure. Teachers resigning in their first five years of teaching fell from 4.6 per cent in 2023 to 3.9 per cent in 2024.

The improved numbers follow the NSW Government’s once-in-a-generation pay rise to 95,000 teachers and ongoing efforts to overhaul working conditions, including transferring 16,000 temporary teachers and support staff to permanent contracts.

The significant fall in resignations comes with an ongoing drop in retirements, now lower than under the former LNP government’s term presiding over the teacher shortage crisis and the events during its leadup.

The former government capped teachers’ wages, and non-classroom workloads dramatically increased. Teacher resignations rose year on year from 2012 and surpassed retirements in 2021.

The rate of teachers retiring has now fallen to 1,014, representing a 43 per cent drop over 10 years, and retirements as a percentage of the workforce are at 1.8 per cent, their lowest since 2002.

In addition, the number of permanent teacher vacancies at the return of the school term this year showed a dramatic 40 per cent reduction in vacancies since Labor was elected.

The latest statistics suggest that more teachers see a future in the profession and that experienced teachers are choosing to stay on longer.

A government spokesperson said work is continuing to rebuild public education based on respecting teachers and ensuring every student has access to a quality, free public education with a teacher at the front of their classroom.