4 May 2021

The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) has welcomed the state government plan to establish a Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership to deliver advanced professional learning opportunities for teachers in government, Catholic and independent schools.

CECV Executive Director Jim Miles says research clearly shows that the best way to improve the learning outcomes of students is to improve the quality of teaching they receive.

‘This Academy will complement our existing teacher development programs and provide further specialised opportunities for our more than 18,000 Catholic school teachers to develop their skills and advance their careers’, Mr Miles said.

Announcing the establishment of the Academy today, Education Minister James Merlino said it would aim to deepen teaching excellence for Victoria’s highly skilled teachers, advancing their professional expertise through access to the latest research in the science of learning and discipline-based pedagogical content knowledge.

The flagship program of the Academy will be the Teaching Excellence Program (TEP), a one-year program for up to 500 teachers per year across all sectors. This program will be delivered in and from the current Department of Education and Training (DET) precinct in East Melbourne.

Importantly, seven new regional Academies will also be established to ensure rural and regional teachers are able to easily access the professional development opportunities on offer.

‘The CECV commends the state government for this investment in Victoria’s teachers and students, regardless of which school they attend’, Mr Miles said.

More than 211,000 or 21% of all Victorian students attend one of 499 Catholic schools across the state.

Read more about the Academy on the DET website.

Media contact: Gerard Delaney on 0413 274 176 or gdelaney@macs.vic.edu.au

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