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A new report released last fortnight by Ideagen, in partnership with their publication School Governance, surveyed educators from both government and non-government schools across the country to gauge their perspectives on the current state of the sector.
The report shows that educators have identified teacher shortages, increasing concerns for staff safety and wellbeing and the rise in instances of school refusals as some of the major challenges facing the sector over the next 12 months. Here is a snapshot of some key findings from the report.
Human Resources Concerns and Health and Safety Risks
Participants reported human resources concerns and risks to health and safety as the top-ranking risks they expect to face over the next year. Specifically, 92 per cent of schools face significant difficulties attracting and retaining staff, and 97 per cent of respondents are being significantly impacted by workload concerns. Many schools have also reported being greatly impacted by instances of occupational violence (17 per cent) and increased levels of staff stress and burnout (47 per cent). Most of these figures have increased from our findings in 2023.
School Refusal and Student Mental Health
Schools continue to remain impacted by increases in student mental health issues; however, more have identified it as an issue ‘greatly’ impacting their school. The number of schools ‘greatly’ impacted by school refusal has also increased by around 200 per cent compared to last year (6 per cent in 2023 and 21 per cent in 2024).
Governance, Risk and Compliance Challenges
54 per cent of respondents indicated that there is significant room for improvement in their current risk management systems and processes, although 90 per cent of respondents are still preparing to make these changes.
Conclusion
This year’s report highlights several critical challenges faced by Australian schools, ranging from human resource concerns to student safety and mental health challenges. Unfortunately, many of these challenges, which were also identified as issues last year, have only gotten worse. This indicates that there is still more work for governments, school leaders, compliance bodies and other stakeholders to do to improve the current situation.
Ideagen’s latest Education Risk Report is an essential resource for anyone working in or adjacent to the education sector, unpacking the crucial issues and providing insights on how key risks may be mitigated. Download your free copy here.
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