All staff who work in Victorian schools are required to have three doses of a Covid-19 vaccine unless a medical exemption applies.Victoria is the only state besides NT to have this rule.This mandate also applies to visitors and volunteers performing work at schools, but parents can now freely access school campuses without needing to be vaccinated.The permanent loss of the teachers and other education workers is compounding staff shortages in schools, principals say.The new operations guide suggests schools should combine classes in large spaces such as halls to cover staff absences and reschedule camps and excursions.A spokesman for Red Union, which represents teachers, said a court hearing for a teacher was told that 1300 state school teachers and 1300 private school teachers had not met vaccination guidelines as of December 2021.This does not include teachers who have resigned or completed short-term contracts since Covid hit.“Although some were vaccinated over the holidays, the fact that there is now a requirement for three shots means more teachers are now not meeting the mandate,” the spokesman said.“There is no justification for these booster mandates in school settings,” he said.“We’ve seen the worst of Omicron in this state and there continue to be ongoing staff shortages.“There is no evidence that staff having a third booster will make any difference,” he said.Malcolm Elliott, president of the Australian Primary Principals’ Association, said staffing shortages continued to be a major issue in schools nationally.“Trying to find people to fill gaps is very hard, especially in rural and remote schools,” he said.Andrew Dalgleish, president of the Victorian Principals’ Association, said schools “had no option but to move on sadly without these teachers”.“Most people can’t afford not to be employed or believe it is important to be vaccinated,” he said.A teacher from a government high school who has been teaching VCE for more than 20 years said she was “completely devastated” her employment was ending this week.“My job is everything and I have so many emotions,” she said.She has had one dose of the vaccine but had a bad reaction and did not want to have any more. The teacher, who did not want to be named, said she had could not obtain a medical exemption beyond four weeks.The Department of Education has confirmed that 99.2 per cent of the state’s government teachers have had three doses of a Covid vaccine.
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