According to the Grattan Institute, creating “master teachers” who are the top 1 per cent of the profession with no formal classes could act as pedagogical leaders, helping to support other teachers’ needs and training.

Peter Goss, school education program director for the Grattan Institute, believes while it’s not a cheap program, “there is extra money coming into government schools in the next few years”.

The master teachers would guide “instructional specialists”, with the hope that by 2032 there would be 20,000 instructional specialists and 2,500 master teachers.

To attract the best candidates, the jobs would pay $180,000 a year or $80,000 more than standard pay for teachers, while instructional specialists would receive $140,000. 

Combined, the think tank believes it would boost student learning by 18 months by the time they reach the age of 15 and further professionalise teaching.

While the government’s new funding will cost $1,000 per student, the Grattan Institute’s plan would cost about two-thirds.

The report said: “The expert teacher career path would be expensive but affordable. For government schools, the cost would be a little over $400 million for the first four years. 

“Costs would then rapidly increase. In 2032, when the model would be 80 per cent operational, it would cost government schools about $1.8 billion per year, or 3 per cent of their projected funding.

“Put another way, it would cost about $560 per government school student per year in 2032 compared to projected funding of $19,500 per student. This cost would drop if some existing instructional leadership programs were rolled into the expert teacher career path.”

About the author

Cameron is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He enjoys giving Aussies practical financial tips and tricks to help grow their wealth and achieve financial independence. As a self-confessed finance nerd, Cameron enjoys chatting with industry experts and commentators to leverage their insights to grow your portfolio.

About the author

Cameron is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He enjoys giving Aussies practical financial tips and tricks to help grow their wealth and achieve financial independence. As a self-confessed finance nerd, Cameron enjoys chatting with industry experts and commentators to leverage their insights to grow your portfolio.

Cameron is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He enjoys giving Aussies practical financial tips and tricks to help grow their wealth and achieve financial independence. As a self-confessed finance nerd, Cameron enjoys chatting with industry experts and commentators to leverage their insights to grow your portfolio.

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