Qualified teachers in Victoria offered $50,000 to take job 60km from home
Incentives come after state government announced overhaul to kindergarten
Three and four-year-old's will be offered additional year of school from 2025
Thousands of new teachers will be required to fill the gaps across the state
The Victorian government will offer early childhood teachers up to $50,000 to relocate to a regional preschool and teach kids.
Incentives to attract educators from outside the sector start at $9,000 with $50,000 offered to those willing to move more than 60km from home.
The higher location incentives will be given to teachers taking on selected regional services - who move from home or switch from another profession.
The huge demand for teachers comes after the NSW and Victorian governments announced preschool-aged children would be offered an extra year of education.
The free 'pre-Kindergarten' will see students aged three and four attend classes five days a week and is expected to cost the Victorian government $9billion.
The additional year means the sector is in need of a 'huge number of dedicated new early childhood educators', Early Childhood Minister Ingrid Stitt said.
'We're offering financial incentives to attract more early childhood teachers to regional areas as we continue to rollout our nation leading free three and four-year-old kindergarten,' Ms Stitt told the Herald Sun.
At least 6,000 teachers will be needed to fill the gaps across Victoria with packages increasing the further from metropolitan Melbourne educators move.
Those receiving $50,000 will receive a sign-on bonus of $10,000, another $10,000 after six months and then $10,000 a year for the next three years.
For qualified teachers willing to move 200km from home, the state government will provide a one-off $3,000 for relocation support.
The incentives are available to qualified early childhood teachers joining or returning to the sector, as well as those travel from interstate or New Zealand.
Data shows up to 82 per cent of teachers live in the Melbourne area, with just 15 per cent in inner regional areas and three per cent in outer regional areas.
Education experts remain concerned the need for teachers will cripple the government's ambitious kindergarten overhaul.
The scheme is designed to help children catch up after the Covid-19 pandemic meant children were kept home from school or daycare for months.
In Victoria three and four-year-old's will be given 15 hours of free sessional kinder a week from 2023, with parents saving $2,500 per child a year.
From 2025 the extra year of pre-prep classes for four-year-old's will start in Victoria, while in NSW teaching will begin in 2030.
Up to 50 childcare government-run centres will also be set up in areas in Victoria where there aren't enough services from 2025, offering lower fees to families than private centres.
The new policy will take pressure off families paying for childcare in the year before school by increasing free preschool from 15 to 30 hours per week.
Up to 130,000 children are expected to enrol in the the NSW pre-Kindergarten classes by 2030, which are not compulsory.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the program would see children thrive across NSW.
'This is an incredible reform that will change lives and deliver enormous educational benefits for children across the state, securing a brighter future for NSW families,' the premier said last month.
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