The nationwide teacher shortage crisis in Australia has been attributed to several key factors, including high university dropout rates among aspiring educators, concerns over teacher pay, and the perceived lack of professional status in the field.
Recognising the gravity of the situation, governments across the country are considering a range of reforms aimed at both attracting new teachers and better supporting those already in the profession.
Yarrawonga College P-12 Campus Principal Damien Keel said P-12 are fortunate to have not suffered greatly as unfortunately there’s been a teacher shortage across Australia for several years now with schools facing difficulties in recruiting and retaining qualified teachers.
“When I graduated in the early 1990’s there were no jobs in Rural/Regional Victoria, I had to move state to QLD. This is cyclical for sure,” Mr Keel said.
“Yarrawonga College P-12 has been able to attract and retain high-capacity teachers through a strategic approach most years, however I do empathise with schools that aren’t able to due to several factors.
“In the past we have had difficulty finding suitably qualified Secondary Maths, English and Science teachers but haven’t had too much trouble finding suitably qualified teachers over the last couple of years for these areas.
“We do continue to experience a shortage of short-term relief teachers though for a number of reasons.”
Mr Keel said the shortage is not just a regional issue but affects schools right across the country including capital cities.
“I am aware of some schools in rural/remote and the outer suburbs of Southern and Northern Melbourne who are struggling to find teachers to fill classroom positions, which is extremely challenging and frustrating for Principals,” Mr Keel said.
“It’s ironic that some of the most privileged areas in the state are struggling.
“Young teachers that come from rural/regional areas like to experience a city life and you can’t blame them for that because they often miss out on access to experiences.
“I truly believe that there’s no better place to bring up a young family than rural/regional Victoria and most late twenty- to thirty-year-old teachers must agree because that’s when we see them begin to return.”
Mr Keel said there were many reasons behind the shortage including pay and increasing workloads.
“I think that there are many reasons for the shortage of teachers that have all come together now but I’m also optimistic that the education system will be able to address these issues in the next few years,” Mr Keel said.
“I do believe that the supply of suitably qualified teachers will improve over the next two or three years and the evidence that the Department of Education has, suggests this is the case.
“Let’s hope that supply of teachers for these schools improves sooner rather than later.”
Sacred Heart College Principal Lew Nagle said Sacred Heart is also fortunate to be fully staffed but the shortage being experienced from time to time is the scarcity of casual replacement teachers.
“These staff are used to backfill positions when staff are on leave or attending camps, excursions and professional development,” Mr Nagle said.
“COVID may be a contributing factor but essentially the number of teachers leaving the profession is greater than the number of teachers entering the profession.
“COVID may have led to teachers close to retirement accessing this option earlier than otherwise may have been the case.
“Yarrawonga is fortunate to have been somewhat insulated from the issue due to its location and being seen as a desirable location with multiple attractions and relatively close to major regional centres. We have several staff who are travelling from neighbouring towns.
“However, where we do have issues is the lack of adequate childcare in Yarrawonga that is delaying staff from re-entering the workforce or limiting the part time fraction that they can work.
“This is an issue facing all sectors not just education. The scarcity of rental properties and extended lead times required for building approval and completion may also provide barriers to people wishing to move to our region.”
Mr Nagle said there is number of incentives across each state to attract more teachers.
“To rectify the issue there are multiple workforce strategies being employed at state and diocesan level to increase the number of teachers entering the profession,” Mr Nagle said.
“These include, but are not limited to, government incentives to encourage students to enter teaching by making education degrees essentially free.
“Teachers are actively recruited from other countries most notably Ireland to teach in Victoria. Removing barriers for people with industry skills to move into education and incentives for metropolitan teachers to teach in regional Victoria are some of the strategies being employed.”
In NSW, a number of incentives for new teachers include a fee free degree, a completion bonus, one that assists with a career transition and the Local Teacher Pipeline program where people within the local community can apply and while studying, are in their local school as a para-professional one day a week.
Across the border in Victoria, the government has also recently taken proactive steps to address the teacher shortage crisis.
Then Premier Daniel Andrews recently announced a $229 million workforce package to alleviate staff shortages in the education sector.
The package includes a $93 million initiative to provide scholarships for students enrolling in teaching degrees in 2024 and 2025, on the condition that they commit to working in government secondary schools for at least two years after graduation.
“They will be the best part of $18,000 better off for an undergraduate (student)and $9,000 for a postgraduate,” he said.
The scholarship program aims to bolster the number of teachers in secondary schools, which are experiencing the most acute staff shortages.
Additionally, other components of the package include $95.7 million to support and retain graduate teachers, $27 million to incentivise teachers to accept rural, remote, and hard-to-staff positions, and $13.9 million to support a trial of employment-based degrees for undergraduates in an effort to address staffing issues at primary and secondary schools.
