Check your pay and conditions!
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 123 No 4, 5 June 2020, page no. 6
Late last year the QTU secured the first increase in the daily rate in more than 20 years for the teachers who supervise preservice teachers while on their pracs.
This was a significant achievement, and it is now important to ensure that it is implemented correctly.
Check your pay
Supervising teachers should now receive:
- $30 per day for 2020
- $34 per day for 2021.
The QTU is aware that a number of universities have continued to advertise the incorrect rates in their paperwork. In most cases this has been an administrative error, and the correct payment was made.
However, one university (University of Queensland) continued to pay the incorrect rate. QTU advocacy has since remedied that, but please be diligent. If you notice an error in your pay or the university’s paperwork, please let us know via services@qtu.asn.au
You work hard supervising preservice teachers and campaigned hard to secure this increase; we must ensure you are paid as agreed. Before accepting a pre-service teacher, it is also wise to check whether you will be paid for the whole prac period, or if there are some days or weeks deemed to be unpaid “contextual” days. If you’re unwilling to accept this, let the university know. They have no impetus for change if teachers keep accepting the terms they set.
Check your conditions: pre-service teachers vs interns
It is important to confirm whether the initial teacher education student you will be supervising is a pre-service teacher or an intern. Typically, teachers who mentor interns are not paid – the reduced teaching load is the “reward”, as interns should be alone with the class for 50 per cent of a teaching load. Sadly, many universities are moving away from including internships in their programs. Thus, some universities do not have a current internship agreement with the QTU. It is worth noting that Griffith University has partial provision for payment of intern mentors in their internship agreement, and the QTU is currently re-negotiating internship agreements with a number of other universities. We are seeking inclusion of payment in those negotiations too and will update members once negotiations are complete.
All internship agreements can be located on the QTU’s website under https://www.qtu.asn.au/collections/awards-and-agreements/agreements or by searching “internship agreements”.