'Kids won't cope' as public schools told to stop hiring extra teachers

They said the teacher freeze meant schools could not bring in extra support for struggling students, or were forced to offer fewer subject choices than previous years.

Australian Education Union state president David Genford said in some instances it meant bigger class sizes for students.

He explained that a funded quota of teachers is given to each school and if a school then needs additional teachers it can use its Standard Resourcing Package to hire more.

"Some schools might identify a need for an extra prep teacher, or require support for a difficult year group, or might need a language teacher for 15 students choosing to study French," Mr Genford said.

"So they decide to employ another teacher to pay for the extra support, or provide the subject options. It is a common practice," he said.

"But those schools have been told they have to wait until every school is filled with teachers."

As a result of the teacher shortage there are 43 vacant teaching jobs across public schools in Tasmania, with many of these located in regional or remote schools.

An education department spokesperson did not deny a teacher freeze, and said it continued to manage the teacher shortage and recruitment challenges.

"A key part of this work is to ensure that classroom teaching positions are prioritised, where possible," they said.

Mr Genford said the freeze had resulted in teacher vacancies dropping from around 80 down to 40, but labelled it a short-sighted solution.

"It's robbing Peter to pay Paul because a lot of those schools can't provide the extra support to students. Those kids aren't going to cope, they are going to struggle."