Australia’s Teacher Shortage
Across Australia there is a growing concern about the level of skills shortage in certain industries. Australia’s education industry has been experiencing this for some time now as the number of teachers in public schools is dropping. Teachers are leaving the classroom for good and the amount of new staff being recruited is not enough to fill the vacancies. This matter suggests that State and Federal governments are not doing enough to retain Australia’s schooling system as one of the most comprehensive and dedicated in the world. Australia’s standard of teaching is declining and unless this matter is addressed with a national approach, Australia’s industry of education will fail to progress.
The major contributing factors leading to this teacher shortage are comprised of mainly the government’s narrow view and inequity towards public education but workplace relations also has a part to play in the matter. They include lack of funding from State and Federal governments; the increasing difficulty in retaining current staff due to job dissatisfaction and the insufficient amount of newly trained recruits caused by a loss of interest in teaching. As a result, the standard of teaching has declined along with wages and conditions. This has led to many bitter struggles between Unions and State governments as teachers take industrial action for their pay, rights and agreements. Teachers are simply being overburdened with condition disputes, lack of resources and support from employers.
The shortage has spread throughout all state and territories across urban and rural areas. Schools that are short staffed are taking radical measures to minimise the impact it is having but at the same time it is putting more pressure on the teachers. Reports show compelling evidence of such acts for example, 43% of high school principals have asked staff to teach outside their field of expertise. Other measures include increasing class...