To: All staff

Hi everyone

It has been a whirlwind first 2 months as the new NSW Government, and I am so proud of all we have achieved for public education.

We are transitioning 16,000 temporary school staff to permanent roles, and negotiations are progressing well with the NSW Teachers Federation to raise teacher salaries so they reflect the critical work you do.

We have slowed down or stopped many activities or initiatives that were overwhelming teachers and school staff, and we have taken the time to listen and learn about how we can improve the status of the teaching profession.

And we have brought our education partners together to commit to work as a group to improve public education.

Key to the ongoing success of achieving our ambitious agenda to truly improve education in this state is having an incredible leader at the helm of the department. From all that has been achieved in the past few weeks, I know we have found that person.

It is my great pleasure to tell you I have appointed Murat Dizdar as the ongoing Secretary for the NSW Department of Education.

Appointing Murat as Acting Secretary was the first decision I made as Minister for Education and Early Learning. I have seen how he is respected and valued in our schools and among Education support teams. And I respect and value his advice.

It’s very important for me as Minister to have a teacher leading the Department of Education. As a student, teacher, principal, executive and parent, Murat has spent most of his life in the NSW public education system. With his commitment to equity and outcomes for all learners, his strategic direction and drive, and his home-grown knowledge of the department as well as the challenges facing the profession, he was the natural choice.

I thank Murat for his invaluable support to me personally as I’ve hit the ground running, and I’m incredibly excited about what we can do together in the future.

Regards

Prue