COVID and schools: Australia is about to feel the full brunt of its teacher shortage
This article appeared in The Conversation on Wednesday, January 19 before schools had returned around Australia. Expectedly, there was much concern regarding safety of school staff and the likelihood of unworkable absences from schools due to isolation. Some schools around the world were even contemplating parents as substitutes to fill the teacher shortage due to isolation absence.
Although students are now back in schools, this article is still worthy of your time to read, as it focuses specifically on the underlying global teacher shortage and reasons for this, such as:
- Poor professional status
- Poor pay
- High workload, and
- Lower completion rates of teacher degrees
Without doubt, demands from parents on teachers also weighs heavily on those deciding to stay in the profession or leave.
Article authors Wilson and Carabetta argue that Australia urgently needs a coordinated, long-term, politically bipartisan plan to strengthen teacher recruitment, placement and retention.
They argue this based on their research and findings of a recent independent inquiry by the NSW Teachers Federation, offering these key recommendations:
- increase teacher salaries by 10 to 15% to bring them on par with other similarly educated professions
- increase lesson preparation time
- improve promotions and career structure
- increase number of school counsellors
- reduce curriculum and administration workload.
Without surprise, salaries and workloads are key issues, something the IEU is always bargaining over in Enterprise Agreement negotiations.
Authors
Rachel Wilson, Associate Professor in Education, University of Sydney
Giuseppe Carabetta, Senior Lecturer, Sydney University Business School, University of Sydney
