Ask a teacher
I asked two teachers I know about this payrise and got two mixed results. One told me that the level of work depends almost entirely on where you teach. The less well off the suburb, the hell of alot harder you work.
The other said it's great for the one's who put in and do the 8 'til 4:30 (she said anyone still at the school after 4:30 is lost and not a member of teaching staff) but unfortunately there are more of the 9 to 3's than the the first mentioned. This has caused a bit of friction as hard working one's resent the turn up for my shift only type's.
This is supposed to be because of a recent shift in the type of people applying to teaching degree's. I have it on good advice that alot of teaching degree students are in the course because,
A, All their friends applied for it.
B, I didn't know what else to do.
C, I didn't score high enough for electical engineering so I had to pick something.
D, My parents said I would get lots of holidays and you don't have to be too smart to pass. (that came from a teacher!)
It's not only teaching but all govt jobs are having a very hard time recruiting. The Vicpol have advertised for the first time in recent memory. So have ambo's and firies. I saw and Army add last week trying to make blanket counters look like infantry!
I think the pay rise is more about retention than giving in to union pressure.