$1 million announced for Gowrie Victoria to mentor provisionally registered ECTs

Provisionally registered early childhood teachers in Victoria will have some extra support thanks to a new funding package which will give Gowrie Victoria $1 million to support professional mentoring. 

Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Ingrid Stitt announced the funding on Friday, sharing that up to 150 provisionally registered teachers will be able to access an experienced mentor from Gowrie Victoria to support them as they gain full registration from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. 

The new funding builds on a successful program that has matched more than 140 teachers with Gowrie Victoria mentors since 2019, and is part of a broader suite of initiatives designed to support the 6,000 new teachers and educators needed to deliver Victoria’s landmark $5 billion reforms to provide 15 hours of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten to all eligible children by 2029. 

“Each day Gowrie Victoria sees how effective mentoring builds teacher capability. We are proud to deliver this vital support from the Victorian Government to teachers at the start of their career,” said Gowrie Victoria CEO Susan Anderson. 

More than 100 incentives have also been awarded over the past two years to attract early childhood teachers to regional or high-priority areas, with incentives of $9,000 to $50,000 available for eligible, qualified early childhood teachers who secure roles at services in hard-to-staff locations that deliver funded kindergarten programs. 

An individual incentive of $9,000 is also available for eligible, qualified early childhood teachers who are joining or re-joining the sector to deliver Three-Year-Old Kinder. 

Gowrie Victoria is providing further support for the initiatives by supporting more than 20 future early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals through a funded traineeship program, where trainees study a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care while working in a local early childhood service. 

“Early childhood educators do the most incredible work teaching our littlest Victorians, and we want to support the next wave of educators and teachers to join this extremely rewarding sector,” Minister Stitt said.