The New South Wales government is offering a new cash incentive of $4,000 to public school teachers who obtain national Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation.
“We know the quality of teachers across NSW is world-class,” said the Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell. “We want to make it as easy as possible for our best teachers to be recognised and remunerated for their impact.”
HALT accreditation recognised and rewarded highly effective, innovative, and exemplary teaching practices by allowing NSW teachers to access salaries of up to $120,000.
NSW’s latest HALT accreditation incentives included:
- A $2,000 one-off payment upon successful completion of HALT module 1, and
- A $2,000 one-off payment upon successful completion of HALT module 2.
Teachers who go through the HALT accreditation modules will automatically be paid their incentives under the new streamlined policy, which the NSW government released last year.
Mitchell said that the newest cash incentives support the NSW government’s goal to increase the number of HALT-accredited teachers in the state from the current 310 to at least 2,500 by 2025.
The Australian Education Ministers have since followed the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government’s lead and set up their own target of 10,000 HALTs across the country as part of the national teacher workforce action plan. They also adopted the NSW government’s proposal to introduce HALT specialisations, including those in the areas of mathematics and classroom management.
“I am thrilled that we are on track to meet this target, with almost 600 new teachers signing up since we streamlined the process last year,” Mitchell said. “These new incentives will attract even more teachers to put their hand up and gain recognition for their work.”
In addition to having access to better salaries, HALT-accredited teachers also formed a talent pool from which they could be selected for the NSW Liberal and Nationals’ Rewarding Excellence in Teaching path. This pathway in turn offered qualified teachers salaries of up to $152,000 “to keep them in the classroom”, Mitchell said.
NSW’s new incentives would be paid on top of the $7,000 pay rise, which would now come into effect as soon as a teacher finalised their HALT accreditation.
Previously, the $7,000 pay rise was subject to regular salary band progression, and teachers could wait for up to two years before receiving the additional pay.
Until now, the pay rise has been subject to regular salary band progression, meaning teachers had to wait up to two years before they would receive the boost.
Teachers can register to complete their HALT accreditation at the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) website.
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