Students across Western Australia will have more one-on-one attention and specialist support with extra education assistants and Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers (AIEOs) starting in classrooms for the new school year.
The first 100 additional education assistants will be employed in WA public schools across the State in 2018, with 100 more employed in both 2019 and 2020. By 2020, they will be employed in 238 primary schools and district high schools, with a majority allocated to socially disadvantaged students and 49 per cent based in regional Western Australia.
Education assistants provide extra learning support for literacy and numeracy learning and free up time for teachers to focus on teaching, ensuring the smooth running of classrooms and limiting distractions for other students.
They also provide support to students with disability, students who face a learning difficulty and students with English as a second language.
They will work across kindergarten to Year 2 and will be permanent on appointment.
An additional 120 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers will also be employed in public schools across the State in 2018 and 2019.
Of the 120, 72 FTE teachers will be appointed to free up half a day a week for exemplary teachers – known as Level 3 classroom teachers – to work in specific areas to benefit students and mentor other teachers, sharing their expertise to enhance teaching practices.
Another 30 will be appointed to secondary schools so a Level 3 classroom teacher can take on the role of co-ordinating mental health programs for students.
Regional WA will also benefit from 50 additional FTE Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers in classrooms to give local Aboriginal children additional assistance.
They will be allocated to 51 schools in 2018 including regional senior high schools, district high schools and remote community schools. In 2019, they will be employed in 74 schools.
In addition, Independent Learning Co-ordinators will be located at 10 regional schools to supervise and help senior students studying courses through the School of Isolated and Distance Education (SIDE).
A total of eight Regional Learning Specialists will work with Year 11 and 12 students at regional schools. They will be based at SIDE and visit schools each term to provide specialist classes for students and extra support for Independent Learning Co-ordinators.