Teacher numbers in Tasmania have continued to increase over the past 12 months, despite a reduction in principals, new data shows.
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The key data set released by the Education Department last week, is part of an annual release of figures including school funding, teacher numbers and class sizes.
The data shows there has been a total increase of 57 teachers in the past 12 months but there was a reduction in the number of principals and assistant principals.
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There was a reduction of 18 principals and assistant principals over the same time period across the state.
Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff said the reduction in principals and assistant principals reflected staff movements to non-school roles as well as covering acting positions.
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"There has been no overall reduction in principal roles in Tasmania," he said.
Principals' Association of Tasmania chief executive Sally Milbourne said it was hard to read into why there had been a reduction of principals but said it could be reflective of situations like her own.
"My first year at the Principals' Association was last year, so I could be one of the 18, because I moved from a principal's role to a position that was not at school," she said.
Dr Milbourne said it was important to reflect that the numbers were just that but it would be interesting to find out the context behind the drop in numbers.
"For me personally, being a principal was very rewarding, so I would encourage it for anyone who wishes to get involved," she said.
However, she said she understood leadership roles were not for everyone and some teachers preferred to remain on class.
Principals continue to experience harassment and threats of violence, which is consistently represented in the Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and WellbeingSurvey, or Riley Report, produced by Australian Catholic University and Deakin University.
This year's iteration of the report showed 40 per cent of Tasmanian principals who responded to the survey had experienced physical violence in 2019.
Mr Rockliff said the government's Principal Wellbeing Action plan, released last year, aimed to help reduce those instances and support the wellbeing of principals.
"The actions in the plan addresses key strategies recommended in the Riley Report for improving principal health and wellbeing," Mr Rockliff said.
Those actions include: workload and staffing, providing principals with access to independent mediation services for resolving complex issues with students and families, improving and building understanding of the school issues management process across the Education Department, and co-designing a community education campaign to encourage respectful behaviours in school.
