Back to class for senior teachers to ease shortages

Head teachers and assistant principals in the average school will be expected to teach four days a week, while deputy principals will be asked to work two-and-a-half days under the policy.

Up to 2500 executive teachers, two-thirds of whom were not leading timetabled classes, will be expected to teach one day a week.

Education Minister Prue Car said the change would lead to the equivalent of 500 extra, full-time teachers being "plugged back into the system".

"We just cannot continue to have minimal supervision, uncovered classes, collapsed classes so rife across our system," she said on Friday.

An October survey revealed about 10,000 lessons were being merged or cancelled in the state's public schools daily due to teacher shortages.

"It's teachers that have told me that they need this fixed, when I go everywhere it's teachers that are crying out for help," Ms Car said.

Teachers have complained that increasing administrative burdens have stymied their ability to properly lead classes while adding to unsustainable workloads.

Skilled administrative and support staff would be asked to take on some of the senior leaders' work in order to free them up for classes, the government said.

Salaries for the roles covered by the classroom-time changes range from $140,500 per year to $164,000 after an eight per cent pay rise that kicked in from early October.

Ms Car said hundreds of administrative staff were being recruited to help teachers so educators could be "in front of our kids ... not filling out paperwork".

A NSW Department of Education review recommended a freeze on the appointment of extra teachers to executive roles remain in place until at least mid-next year.

Department secretary Murat Dizdar, a former high school principal, said the government had worked with the teachers' union and principals' groups in making the changes.

There were nearly 2250 teaching roles vacant across the state's public schools as of late September.

Australian Associated Press