Mercury (Hobart)

Shameful injustice for school staff

ESP staff don’t even get paid on holidays, reveals David Genford

- David Genford is state president of the Australian Education Union.

MANY of us can think back to our time in school and recall a teacher assistant, a lab technician or library staff who had a profound impact on us.

Perhaps it was a food tech assistant who helped you perfect a recipe, or an admin officer with whom you built a healthy rapport.

For many, these workers are the heart and soul of schools, on deck to equip and empower students and teachers at all hours. Yet, far too often, the tireless work of education support personnel (ESP) is undervalue­d.

Providing basic physical and emotional care for students such as toileting, or assisting teachers with student learning plans, ESP, formerly referred to as support staff, keep our schools ticking over.

Those within a classroom’s four walls know just how important ESP are to day-today school operations, but only recently their efforts have become broadly recognised.

Sunday, May 16, is Global ESP Day — an annual celebratio­n launched in 2018 by Education Internatio­nal for union members across the world to recognise the hardworkin­g staff who provide so much support to our students and teachers.

In Tasmania, ESP Day has become a week-long celebratio­n, with the Australian Education Union hosting statewide events for members.

Schools across the state are also hosting morning teas or special assemblies to celebrate.

The focus of the annual event is to let ESP know how appreciate­d they are, while seeking to recognise their contributi­on with improved working conditions and wages.

In Tasmania, teachers are paid year-round, but ESP are only remunerate­d for 40 weeks of the calendar, with the option to work an additional three weeks, thanks to a recent union-won agreement that begins to tackle the harshness of stand-down.

There is more to be done. It’s beyond time this state government recognised the contributi­on teacher assistants and ESP make to our school system year in, year out.

Not paying essential workers for weeks undervalue­s their roles and contributi­on to student learning, and makes retaining and recruiting high-quality ESP difficult. Teacher assistants are already some one of the lowest-paid workers in the state.

Who can survive and raise a family without a wage for two weeks, let alone 12 weeks?

Some workers are forced on to Centrelink payments over summer months. This creates emotional, social and economic stress for our community.

These staff, who provide such a high level of support to our educators and future leaders, deserve better.

It took an AEU fight for the government to last year improve conditions for Tasmanian ESP, such as increasing the Health Care Procedure Allowance from $13.20 per week to $30.70, and increasing the toileting allowance paid to teacher assistants from $13.20 per week to $15.38 ($17.44 for support schools).

These member wins have been well-received, but the government should not rest until all ESP are in secure jobs that pay 52 weeks a year.

Our union won’t let this injustice go.

There is a big gap in student and teacher support, with a severe shortage of profession­al support staff such as school psychologi­sts, speech and language pathologis­ts, occupation­al therapists, youth workers and social workers.

Our students are under immense pressure, teachers and support staff suffer violence at work, yet we have a critical shortage of profession­al support staff in schools and colleges.

We look forward to seeing more recognitio­n from the government for our essential ESP members, and working with the government to address critical workforce shortages in profession­al support staff desperatel­y needed across Tasmania.

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