1,000 signatures reached
To: Premier Jacinta Allan and Early Childhood Minister Lizzie Blandthorn
Respect kindergarten teachers and educators!
Kindergarten teachers and educators are the key to giving every child a great start in life when it comes to their education.
Every day, families across Victoria rely on their children accessing a high-quality kindergarten education to ensure their learning and development in the years before school. This is critical for our youngest Victorians to thrive.
But right now, teachers and educators in Victoria’s kindergartens are not respected by the state Labor government for the important work they do. They have been bargaining for improved conditions and pay increases for more than 12 months without being offered any decent pay increases. This is as outrageous as it is unacceptable.
When the Victorian government does not deliver salaries that value their work, on top of unsustainable workloads, it is not surprising that almost 50% of teachers and educators are regularly thinking of leaving early childhood education for a different occupation.
All this when we need 11,000 additional teachers and educators to fulfill the Allan government’s plan to increase 3-year-old kindergarten to 15 hours per week and 4-year-old kindergarten to 30 hours per week.
Why is this important?
The Premier cannot say Victoria is the ‘education state’ and promise parents fee-free 3 and 4-year-old kindergarten without the workforce to deliver it – and that can’t happen without investing in decent wages and working conditions.
Delivering for teachers and educators who work in Victoria’s kindergartens means delivering for the children they educate. Everyone knows that for children to succeed at school they require access to high-quality kinder delivered by teachers and educators that are supported, respected and valued.
Children benefit the most when their early childhood teachers and educators are well supported, paid a decent wage, and want a long term career in early childhood education.
Children benefit the most when their early childhood teachers and educators are well supported, paid a decent wage, and want a long term career in early childhood education.
Supporting the teachers and educators who work in Victoria’s kindergartens will benefit children, who will be ready to start school; and parents, who will know their child is getting the best start to their education.
- Tracey Webb, Early Childhood Educator and AEU Member
- Tracey Webb, Early Childhood Educator and AEU Member