School principals have been forced to advertise job vacancies on social media with just weeks left until term one begins.
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Riverina organiser of the NSW Teachers Federation, John Pratt, told The Daily Advertiser there have been examples of the desperate online call-out all over the state, including close to home.
"Schools in our area have had extreme difficulty getting teachers. It's not far out from Wagga," Mr Pratt said.
"It's the specialty areas that are really hit. There are a lot of teachers who are retraining on-the-job for subject areas they're not trained for, [for example] you've got PE teachers who are now teaching maths.
"All evidence suggests the [teaching] graduates are not coming west of the dividing range."
Deputy President of the NSW Teachers Federation, Henry Rajendra told The Daily Advertiser the problem lies in the lack of permanent jobs on offer in remote and regional areas.
"A lot of schools don't have a teacher at the end of the street waiting for the call," Mr Rajendra said.
"It's a growing issue across the state, but the greatest concentration, where it is having the most negative effect is in rural and remote areas.
"Outside metropolitan areas, it's chronic."
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Mr Rajendra is of the opinion that the issue has been worsening since the introduction of the Local Schools, Local Decisions policy.
Now that the NSW Department of Education has removed the policy and replaced it with the 'schools success' model, it's hoped that schools will be given greater access to centralised hiring systems.
"We need an increase to the permanent recruitment process," Mr Rajendra said.
"There's a better chance for people to relocate if they are offered permanent work."
In response to questions from The Daily Advertiser, a spokesperson for the NSW Department of Education said under the new model the "hiring structure of schools will not change".
"[..] The new model will direct the department to help schools who may not be employing the most effective mix of staff," the spokesperson said.
"The School Success Model provides the transparency and support mechanisms for schools to successfully manage their record funding and make decisions that will benefit their students."
In the Riverina, the lack of permanent positions is the paramount concern for Mr Pratt. He believes it is compounding to de-motivate graduates in relocating.
"It's clear that we need an overhaul of the incentives that will attract people to rural areas," Mr Pratt said.
"We need to be able to maintain our experienced teachers in rural schools, so we need to overcome the difficulties we're having in keeping them here."
Addressing the reality of "unforeseen costs" associated with living regionally will go a long way to alleviating the burden of finding suitable teachers, Mr Pratt said.
"Rural house prices are increasing. Yes, we don't have the commute you have in the city, but if the house price raises anymore, you'll be dealing with city prices for housing," he said.
"We have little public transport here, you need a car. There's a lot of unforeseen costs associated with living in the regions, so we need the incentives to allow for that."
Reversing the current problems, however, is not an overnight fix, Mr Pratt said. Rather it will require an active change from the beginning of a teacher's career.
"We need to make it more attractive for all faculties and subject areas, incentivising a permanent move hear right from university," Mr Pratt said.
"The job of teachers gets so much bad press out there. There are all these negatives telling good graduates there are other options for them."