NSW education staff say they are being sent to schools without adequate training to ‘plug the casual crisis’

Some staff from the NSW education department who have been covering Covid-related teacher absences say they are working dual loads. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Education department staff being “conscripted” to fill Covid-related vacancies at New South Wales schools have said they are being sent into teaching environments without adequate training, and were just plugging holes in a broader “casual crisis”.

One employee, who has never worked with or been specifically trained to care for special needs students, claimed they were sent to teach a class of students with disabilities.