La Trobe University: Win for teachers welcomed

The continuation of Nexus honours the Federal Government’s announcement last week of its decision to extend Nexus by two years.

The additional 60 places committed to by the ALP come from a pool of 1,500 additional places for qualified professionals in other fields to retrain as teachers, providing an opportunity for innovative programs like Nexus to bid for further places beyond the 60 guaranteed, delivering even greater reach and impact.

Nexus is a first-of-its-kind, apprenticeship-model pathway into secondary teaching with links to community organisations, that enables people to transition from other careers, while gaining practical experience in a school setting.

La Trobe Dean of Education Professor Joanna Barbousas welcomed today’s commitment by the ALP to boost entry into teaching.

“Continuing La Trobe’s exceptional Nexus program by another two years means even more qualified teachers will have the opportunity to deliver positive outcomes for school children across Victoria, in turn incentivising more skilled and passionate teachers to join the profession,” Professor Barbousas said.

“In addition to the 60 additional places guaranteed for Nexus over the next two years, the huge success of the program to date puts us in a strong position to bid for even more of the 1,500 places available under the ALP’s plan– offering potential to provide even greater benefit both to the students themselves and to the diverse communities across Victoria in which they teach.”

Nexus is delivered as part of the High Achieving Teachers Program with the support of the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment and the Victorian Government Department of Education and Training as part of its investment in Initial Teacher Education.

The program enables carefully selected participants to work as Education Support Class Employees in rural, regional and low socio-economic schools, while they complete their Master of Teaching (Secondary).