NSW Department of Education Secretary,Georgina Harrisson,said the new position followed an independent risk assessment that considered health advice and the use of COVID-19 mitigation measures in the current phase of the pandemic.
Teachers and administration staff who quit or were sacked for refusing to be vaccinated will soon be able.Supplied
Under the plan,teachers and administration staff who quit or were sacked for refusing to be vaccinated will be able to apply for jobs from July 18.
A spokesperson for the department said 798 staff had either resigned or were dismissed due to the vaccine mandate and another 201 were under investigation for non-compliance. Another 430 teaching staff are currently suspended due to long-term leave.
Staff who work in schools for special purposes (SSPs) or support units and classes will be required to be up-to-date with the vaccination,including a third COVID-19 booster jab to attend work. Those that work as assisted travel support officers (ATSOs) and drivers also need to have three vaccine doses to work.
“With more than 120,000 staff,850,000 students and 2300 work sites it was important that as the public health orders were lifted we undertook an independent review of our COVID work,health and safety settings,” Harrisson said.
“We have taken the time that was needed in coming to this position to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our staff and students would not be compromised. Parents can be reassured that schools will remain safe places for their children and that face-to-face learning will be maintained.
“It is also important to recognise the vital role our teachers and school staff played last year,getting jabs in arms,so that we could get our students back into classrooms in the middle of the Delta wave.”
Harrisson said the proposal,which will be taken to unions and other stakeholders,would mean an additional 965 “active casual staff” and teaching staff could return to work.
The sector is experiencing widespread shortages,.
Catholic schools in NSW of around 15 per cent by the end of the decade.
Harrisson said there was a 30 per cent increase in the rate of sick leave among teaching staff in the first six months of this year compared to the same time last year,but scrapping the mandate would have “little impact on the current staffing stress the sector was experiencing”.
“Like all employers right now we face unprecedented numbers of staff calling in sick due to COVID-19 and the flu,” she said.
In the first six months of this year there were 430,351 teacher sick days recorded,up 145,491 compared to the same period in 2019 and a jump of up 100,324 compared to the same period last year.
The department said it will “consult with stakeholders proposed policy position,with the finalisation of the formal policy expected in a fortnight”.
Harrisson said vaccination remained a key pillar of the department’s response to COVID-19 and the proposed vaccine policy,combined with supply of rapid antigen tests and enhanced cleaning and ventilation were also part of the department’s COVID-19 plan for term three.
“Throughout the pandemic,we have continued to review and update risk assessments to ensure they remain fit for purpose,and we will continue to do so as health and community settings change,” Ms Harrisson said.
Almost 1000 healthcare workers resigned or were sacked after the mandates were introduced last year. NSW Health staff are still required to have at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
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