The Three-year-old Kindergarten Teachers and Educators Recruitment Case Study

Early Childhood Education Teachers and Educators recruitment in regional Victoria - A case study.

The Victorian State Government is delivering the biggest reform in the history of Early Childhood Education in Victoria to provide all three-year-old children access to subsidised kinder. The investment of $5 billion over 10 years will fundamentally transform early childhood education and help families struggling with the cost of living, saving some of Victoria’s most disadvantaged families around $5,000 a year.

McArthur has been fortunate to partner with the Department of Education and Training to assist with the recruitment of the Teachers and  Educators for Three-Year-Old Kindergarten in the regional areas of:

• Buloke
• Hindmarsh
• Northern Grampians
• South Gippsland
• Strathbogie
• Yarriambiack
• Mallee (4 year old)

The Challenges

In the initial stages of the project, the three key challenges were:

ECE Candidate Shortage:
There is a general shortage of qualified and/or experienced ECE practitioners across Australia.

Urgency:
The need was immediate and if possible candidates were required to start 'yesterday'.

Location:
The regional and rural locations of all centres meant the campaign was competing with metro centres sourcing from the same small talent pool.

As the project rolled out, and time progressed additional challenges emerged:

Timing:
The timing of the campaign unfortunately coincided with the traditional holiday period 'slow-down.

International sourcing roadblocks:
Overseas recruitment was initially identified as a potential sourcing channel, but due to the time required for relocation and visa clearance, it wasn't a feasible strategy

COVID-19 Outbreak:
The outbreak curtailed recruitment for the Mallee.

Follow the link below to find out more about the project, our solutions and the outcome.