After a five-day “circuit breaker” lockdown, Victoria has reported that there have been no newly discovered cases of locally acquired coronavirus as life returns to its pre-COVID normalcy. The states and territories are now drafting a blueprint for opening schools in a secure manner, and it is scheduled to be made public on Thursday. Let us know are teachers in demand in Australia.
Are Teachers In Demand In Australia?
Teachers who have close contacts, don’t have symptoms, and get a negative quick antigen test will no longer have to stay home for seven days, as recently declared by the prime minister in response to parents’ worries about teacher absences. However, labor organizations have criticized this easing of standards, claiming that it would merely add to the safety issues for both children and instructors.
The states and territories are now drafting a blueprint for opening schools in a secure manner, and it is scheduled to be made public on Thursday. But Australia also has to have a long-term strategy for recruiting and demand teachers for its schools to function correctly and to prevent students from engaging in distance learning. It entails elevating their professional rank, enhancing their working circumstances, and paying them more.
A Global Problem:
Shortages of teachers are occurring in other nations. Due to a scarcity of teaching personnel in England, classrooms have been combined at the request of instructors. In Canada, the opening of schools was delayed in some provinces. In Ontario, families will only be contacted when more than 30% of staff and kids are absent. The French teachers’ union has called for a strike in response to what it calls “chaotic circumstances” in the classroom.
Like their counterparts, American schools struggled to maintain operations before and throughout the epidemic due to teacher shortages. Some jurisdictions have moved to use parents as temporary replacement instructors, while others have used online education. In the United States, studies show that the epidemic has altered teachers’ dedication to careers and caused an increase in teacher turnover. Australians may experience the same thing.
The severe lack of available teachers in Australia:
The situation of teachers in Australia is disgraceful on a professional level. A lack of respect, difficulties with recruiting, low income (compared to other professions), a tremendous workload, competing expectations, and the pandemic have all worked together to produce the perfect storm. Multiple sources of information highlight the impending severity of the looming teacher shortage. Some schools, especially those in rural regions, may have it much more challenging in the coming years due to a lack of qualified teachers (fewer than 60% of those who began the degree finish it) and an increase in the number of children and teenagers. Teachers in Australia have pleaded with the government to postpone the start of the school year because of the COVID-19 peak.
Political Response:
The current teacher shortage in Australia has been described as “unprecedented.” The United States Department of Education estimates that there will be a shortage of more than 4,000 educators by 2025; nevertheless, shortages are already being experienced across the board, particularly in rural and isolated schools and mathematics and science.
Adding additional instructors from other countries is one of the potential remedies lawmakers are proposing to the problem. It has occurred in the past: in the 1970s, when there was a teacher shortage in Australia, educators from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada were brought in to fill the void.
The Minister of Education, Jason Clare, has requested that the Minister of Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil, expedite the immigration process for those with teaching credentials. It continues with what he said earlier in the month: We must give higher visa priority to foreign educators who wish to work in the United States.
The Education Minister for the state of New South Wales, Sarah Mitchell, has even suggested accelerating the citizenship process for educators. But how viable is this plan when other nations with comparable demographics also have teacher shortages?
Present Condition:
Over 1,100 full-time secondary or special education teaching posts remained empty in 2021, according to the NSW Teachers Federation reports from the New South Wales education department. That’s quite a few classes that need a teacher in them.
Reportedly, the records also warn that during the next five years, there would be an insufficient number of instructors to staff the state’s public schools. Meanwhile, states have needed help filling the pandemic-exacerbated vacancies for temporary and relief teachers during the previous two years. Between 11,000 and 13,000 extra teachers would be required in NSW by 2031, according to projected student enrolments in 2020, student-to-teacher ratio, and school population growth.
We have faced a persistent instructor deficit in mathematics and science at the national level. After ten years, there has yet to be nationwide systematic monitoring of either generic or specialized shortages because the Australian Teacher Workforce Data Project is still developing. According to a calculation made by the Australian Mathematics and Science Institute, there is a 76% chance that every student in years 7 to 10 will have at least one maths teacher who is not qualified.
Surprisingly, our country has tolerated teacher shortages in math and science for such an extended period, given that these subject areas are essential to the functioning of our economy. It is also widely known that fewer high school students are choosing to study these topics, which suggests that we already have to pay the price for our negligence.
There has yet to be any government reporting on the number of schools that cannot fulfill the staffing requirements they have set for 2021. However, several reports on social media have shown that industrial action is taking place in individual schools. As a result, the remaining teachers are unable to keep classes going.
We Require a National Strategy:
A significant amount of research demonstrates that the workload expectations placed on teachers in Australia are both high and rising. In NSW before the epidemic, teachers worked 55 hours a week and principals 62. The pandemic has already increased the number of work teachers must do, and schools’ inadequate staffing levels will only worsen the situation. In contrast to many other nations, like England, Australia needs a comprehensive strategy to recruit and keep teachers in the profession.
An independent review examining the roles of teachers and principals in NSW schools and how they have evolved since 2004 will be conducted in 2020 at the request of the NSW Teachers Federation. In the final report, several recommendations were made to “recognize the increase in responsibilities and skills help overcome shortages, and enlist the extra teachers required to deal with enrolment growth.” These recommendations were made after an examination of both local and international data.
The following were the most critical recommendations:
- Raise teachers’ wages by 10–15 percent so that they are on pace with those of other occupations requiring a comparable level of education.
- Increase the amount of time spent preparing lessons.
- Enhance the existing career structure and advancement system.
- A more significant number of school counselors are needed.
- Decrease the amount of work required for the curriculum and administration.
Conclusion:
It is of the utmost importance for Australia to have a planned, long-term, politically non-partisan strategy to improve teachers’ recruitment, placement, and retention. Australian teachers are professionally shamed. The epidemic, lack of respect, recruitment issues, poor pay, high workload, conflicting demand, and lack of consideration created the perfect storm among teachers in Australia. Multiple sources warn of the imminent teacher shortage. Due to a shortage of trained instructors (fewer than 60% complete the degree) and a rise in children and teens, specific schools, particularly rural ones, may need help in the future years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australian teachers have requested a delay in the school year. If we have such a strategy in place, we will be in a stronger position to respond to the present epidemic and any other emergencies that may arise in the near or far future.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- What kinds of teachers are in most demand in Australia?
High-demand subject topics to be taught
Middle and high schools
The STEM disciplines.
Schools in rural areas, regional areas, and remote areas.
Languages.
- Does it make sense to become an educator in Australia?
The starting salary for newly qualified teachers in Queensland is consistently ranked among the highest in Australia. There are bursaries for you while you are studying and monetary, personal, and professional rewards if you teach in rising rural and isolated places. It is an excellent incentive to become a schoolteacher if you prefer living in the country since you will be eligible for these benefits.
- Why is there such a severe lack of qualified teachers in Australia?
“Throwing themselves through hoops to land a job.”
Factors including a lack of job security and the casualization of the profession essentially cause the teacher shortage. Those days when teaching meant having a steady, reliable and guaranteed job are long gone.
- Which of the Australian states needs more teachers?
According to projections, Victoria, the most rapidly expanding provincial territory in Australia, will need around 1300 extra instructors per year during the next four years to serve the approximately 90,000 pupils anticipated to enroll.
