Almost 50 teachers will not be returning to Katherine classrooms when school resumes next week.
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At the end of last year, the Katherine Times reported just 20 teacher positions needing to be filled across public and private schools.
Today that number has been shown to have more than doubled.
There were later reports the number could have been closer to 30.
Regardless, those official numbers supplied by the government's Department of Education were far higher than 2018, which was reported as 11 at the time.
Australian Education Union's NT branch president Jarvis Ryan drew a link between a turbulent year of funding cuts, which saw Katherine's most alluring incentive taken away, and the continued exodus of teachers.
It is that continued high turnover rate which led the NT Government to introduce a rental incentive scheme in the first place.
The Katherine region already experiences the highest rate of teacher turnover and contract employment in the NT
- AEU spokeswoman
The NT Department of Education has revealed the real number of teacher positions needing to be filled each year, for the past three years.
As it stands today, 48 teachers across Katherine's public schools handed in resignations towards the end of last year and during the school break.
At the start of 2019, 43 positions needed filling, and the previous year, 2018, saw 56 teachers packing their bags.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Education said the high variation in numbers provided by the government was down to timing.
She said it was not uncommon for teachers to make last minute decisions.
With around 300 teachers needed for Katherine classrooms, fears quickly switched to recruiting following the NT Government's controversial decision to remove $500,000 from its Katherine teacher rental subsidy scheme to help rescue its ailing budget.
Last year in September an AEU spokeswoman questioned how the government would attract new teachers "given that the Katherine region already experiences the highest rate of teacher turnover and contract employment in the NT".
The government has decided to grandfather the current arrangement allowing current teachers to continue to receive the subsidy.
But new teachers starting in 2020 will receive a relocation allowance of $11,000 ($546 per fortnight for 20 weeks).
The allowance will be reduced to 15 weeks in 2021 and 10 weeks in 2022, leaving teachers with no other recognition of their isolation.
The Katherine Times is aware of 15 teachers embarking on their Territory education careers in Katherine this year.
The new recruits join 315 new teachers starting their careers across the Northern Territory, some of which may be bound for Katherine.
The Education Department has been contacted for further information on the number of positions remaining vacant.
A search of the Government jobs website shows at least two classroom teacher positions still needing to be filled in Katherine.
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