Dubbo teachers say they're facing violence, burnout and unmanageable classroom sizes due to a chronic shortage of staff.
The latest government data shows 44 teaching roles remain empty in Dubbo, and over 30 per cent of the workforce is on temporary contracts.
Dubbo teacher and NSW Teachers Federation representative Brayden Holland said teachers were often asked to teach two or three merged classes outside at once due to the staff shortages.
The high school teacher said it was impossible to control a classroom under such conditions, resulting in "no learning", bad behaviour, and outbreaks of violence.
Mr Holland said he was assaulted in March while trying to intervene in a fight between two students who had been merged together into one classroom.
He said earlier this year the deputy principal was hospitalised after trying to stop a fight between two emotionally disturbed students, who had also had their classes merged.
"We're all exhausted and we're losing more teachers, particularly in support where our most vulnerable students are," Mr Holland said.
"When you are like the teachers at my school, where you have a ratio of two teachers to 238 students on one minimal supervision [class], no learning is taking place."
Students in need missing out on counselling
Dubbo school counsellor Gary Black, 70, said he wanted to retire ten years ago, but felt a duty to keep working due to the shortage of counsellors.
He is sent out to primary and secondary schools in towns such as Gilgandra, Stuart Town, Coonabarabran, and Gwabegar.
Mr Black said many of the schools he visited had gone without a counsellor for years.
"What that means is students miss out on assessments, and because they can't get an assessment done they can't apply for extra funding to help those students," he said.
"The longer it goes, the more and more likely it is you're not going to get a successful transition from school to life."
Union representative Tim Danaher, from the NSW Teachers Federation, said it was hard to attract teachers in NSW due to non-competitive salaries and unsustainable workloads.
"It goes beyond just the public schools in Dubbo … all of the colleges are suffering, as are schools in Mudgee, Narromine etc," Mr Danaher said.
"The students are 100 per cent missing out because of the failings and inaction of the Perrottet government."
Move to offer more permanent roles
Government data shows the biggest staff shortage is being felt at Dubbo College, which has 12 vacancies.
A NSW Department of Education spokesperson said they were working to fill teacher vacancies.
"A number of permanent staff at Dubbo Public School are currently on parental and other approved leave, with temporary teachers filling those roles," the spokesperson said.
"From 2023, Dubbo will be one of the areas to benefit from the NSW Government's initiative to offer 10,000 temporary teachers and support staff permanent roles as part of our plans to shift surplus teachers into permanent positions," the spokesperson said.
In June 2022 there were 942 teachers in Dubbo, 649 of which were permanent, 33 were casual, and 260 were temporary.
The NSW Primary Principals' Association and the New South Wales Secondary Principals Council has been contacted for comment.
