Exciting opportunity: Notre Dame College principal John Cortese and La Trobe Shepparton head of campus Elizabeth Capp hope the expansion of the Bachelor of Education will help fill a critical gap in the region. Photo: Holly Daniel.
Photo by
Holly Daniel
In his 26 years as a school principal, John Cortese has never had such difficulty finding enough staff.
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Mr Cortese is the principal of Notre Dame College Shepparton, which he expects will need eight extra teachers in 2023 under an anticipated new enterprise agreement.
That’s on top of replacing those who decide to move on at the end of the year.
It’s hoped the announcement that Shepparton’s La Trobe University campus will offer secondary teaching for the first time in 2023 will help address the shortage.
The expansion of the Bachelor of Education, which already includes early childhood and primary education, means students won’t have to travel out of the region to study secondary teaching.
But Mr Cortese said the dialogue around how the community understood the profession also needed to change.
He said it had contributed to a dramatic reduction in students applying for teaching courses at university.
“Twenty-five years ago you’d have a quarter of the kids with teaching as their first, second or third preference — at the moment, we’d be lucky to have two or three per cent,” Mr Cortese said.
“To me, the biggest issue is we're not actually selling the best profession in the world.
“People talk about the negatives of the job and there are, but what about talking about all the fantastic things; we take kids’ lives in our hands and they become the leaders of the future.”
Shepparton La Trobe head of campus Elizabeth Capp
Photo by
Holly Daniel
Head of campus Elizabeth Capp said offering the new three-year course was an exciting step to make a difference in the community.
“The region will see the benefits as we start to place candidates in schools but also as they join the community — particularly if they come from elsewhere to do the course,” she said.
Ms Capp said La Trobe University Shepparton’s open day was a chance to learn more about the new opportunity, and the wide variety of courses offered at the campus.
The open day is being held from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, August 13 at 210 Fryers St. To register visit latrobe.edu.au/openday
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