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To: Premier Daniel Andrews, Education Minister Natalie Hutchins, and Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Ingrid Stitt

Paid placements for all pre-service teachers

Campaign created by
Australian Education Union - VIC Branch
AEU Victoria

Pre-service teachers in Victoria are required to complete up to 80 days of unpaid professional placement. This makes it really difficult to balance their unpaid placement with their regular paid job and cover rent, food, transport, and other living expenses.

Many are forced to defer their studies to save up money, extend their course completion time, or drop out of their studies because of the financial burden. This ultimately reduces the number of new teachers entering the workforce.

We call on the Victorian government to provide paid placements for all pre-service teachers, to support the next generation of teachers and create a sustainable future for public education.

Why is this important?

Financial stress means many aspiring teachers struggle to manage their living expenses while undertaking unpaid teaching placements. Some ask family and friends for financial assistance, and others take on personal loans. The impact of unpaid placements is particularly severe for those with families or caring responsibilities, regional and rural students, and students from marginalised communities.

Too many pre-service teachers are unable complete their studies, making Victoria's teacher shortage even worse. Without enough teachers in our schools and kindergartens, students are denied access to the full range of learning and support programs they need.

Victoria, Australia

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Updates

2023-05-18 14:19:37 +1000

Great news - our petition was picked up in the Herald Sun! We can't link the article here as it is paywalled, but it's great to see this story get some media interest.

Let's keep the pressure on!

2023-05-18 08:10:03 +1000

5,000 signatures reached

2023-04-28 19:33:04 +1000

1,000 signatures reached

2023-04-28 13:43:07 +1000

500 signatures reached

2023-04-27 21:22:31 +1000

100 signatures reached

2023-04-27 17:55:52 +1000

50 signatures reached

2023-04-27 17:02:34 +1000

25 signatures reached

2023-04-27 16:34:16 +1000

10 signatures reached