North East teachers are being pushed to the brink with the workload pile-up forcing them into hours of unpaid overtime and career burnout, union officials and educators claim.
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The Australian Education Union (AEU) said teachers were so exhausted by the ever-increasing obligations to their role, many were leaving the profession entirely.
The AEU is calling on the Victorian Government to make changes to alleviate the stress placed on teachers during negotiations for their new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).
A new campaign aims to address the issues flagged and reduce the pressures placed on Victorian educators so that they can better do their job.
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Wodonga-based primary teacher Andrew Patton said a constant stream of increasing obligations meant that teachers were being run off their feet.
"Lots of things over time have been added and added to the plate to the point where it's overloaded," he said.
"I know that there are people who have left the profession because the demand has been too great."
Mr Patton said schools did allow teachers time for lesson planning, but quite often interruptions pushed that planning into after-work hours.
"In terms of getting ready for the day and week ahead, a lot of that planning does tend to happen outside of school hours," he said.
"The administrative side of the workload has really increased in terms of the paperwork that we need to have done as well."
A survey undertaken by the AEU shows that on average teachers and principals are working 15 hours of unpaid overtime a week.
Marino D'Ortenzio, AEU vice-president for secondary schools Victoria, said the survey results showed a need and an appetite for change.
"Effectively what that means is there is not a single category of employee working in government schools today who is not being required to undertake unpaid overtime," he said.
"We're at the stage where we need to re-negotiate the new EBA for staff in government schools and members have very clearly indicated to us that workload is the prime issue they are worried about.
"Eight-eight per cent of teachers report that reducing workloads would work the most to retain teachers in the profession."
Funding issues in Victoria have been listed as a factor, with schools receiving $1384 less per student compared to schools in other states.