Every school in Tweed is set to benefit from a major teacher recruitment drive as well as their maintenance backlog wiped to zero, thanks to the NSW Nationals in government.
Member for Tweed Geoff Provest said the NSW Government will hire an additional 4600 teachers to join the ranks of the public school system over the next four years – delivering the highest number of teachers in the state’s history.
The Nationals in government will also clear every maintenance job currently outstanding in Tweed’s 19 public schools by July 2020.
“Today is a wonderful day for our schooling community and I am proud to announce that not only will we grow our world-class teacher workforce, our local schools will soon be better maintained,” Mr Provest said.
“More than $375,000 has been spent on school projects in Tweed over the 2018 summer holiday period.
“Our children’s teachers are so important – It is fundamental that we invest in our teachers so they can equip our kids with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the future.
“To top it off we are also wiping the slate clean and ensuring all outstanding maintenance jobs at our schools such as carpeting, roof maintenance and painting works will be carried out.
“Education is a priority for the Nationals in government and today’s announcement shows a commitment to the schools in rural and regional NSW which may be doing it tough,” Mr Provest said.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro said this commitment will take the total number of full-time teaching positions to nearly 11,000 since coming to government.
“We are investing record amounts into NSW schools and teachers, which has only been made possible due to the strong economic position created by this government – we built the schools and now we are filling them,” he said.
“These extra teachers will help staff the 170-plus new and upgraded schools being delivered as part of this government’s record $6 billion investment in school infrastructure.
“It is a priority for this government to ensure NSW continues to have the best schools and best teachers in the country,” he said.
Last year, the NSW Government committed an additional $6.4 billion for public schools to 2027 as part of the Gonski deal with the Commonwealth, bringing the State’s total investment to $148 billion for government and non-government schools.