By Jordan Baker
Aspiring teachers will have to achieve at least band four in HSC mathematics to work at a NSW primary school under a plan to boost standards.
The rule will apply to students sitting the Higher School Certificate from 2021 and comes after the Berejiklian government announced on Thursday plans to make maths compulsory for year 11 and 12 students.
It reinstates a requirement that was dropped in 2014 when the NSW Education Standards Authority introduced new standards, including a numeracy assessment for final-year teachers and a requirement that they achieve band five in at least three HSC subjects.
HSC maths will be compulsory for primary school teachers, after the government reinstated a requirement dropped five years agoCredit: iStock
But there are concerns from education deans that the policy will exacerbate the severe shortage of maths teachers by creating extra demand among HSC students.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the government was committed to raising the standards of teaching in NSW.
“The early years are the most formative and important in a child’s educational journey. No one teaching our kids the basics of maths should be unable to complete high school maths themselves,” she said.
“Parents have a reasonable expectation that their young children are learning the basics of numeracy from someone who is mathematically literate.”
If a student fails to achieve a band four but passes a maths-based course at university, they will still be able to work as a primary teacher. The policy also specifies a band four "or equivalent", recognising that level would be more difficult to achieve in extension maths than standard maths.
Last year, aspiring teachers were also told that those beginning study from this year would need to achieve a credit average and must prove "superior emotional and cognitive intelligence" to be allowed to apply for a job in NSW public schools.
Students will be able to enter teaching courses without HSC maths but will not be given teaching accreditation by NESA when they finish.
The president of the NSW Teachers Federation, Maurie Mulheron, welcomed the announcement.
"We've always believed that we should have rigorous and high academic standards in teacher education," he said.
"Not just numeracy - I'm talking about mathematics. Primary school teachers who are confident in mathematics, will have an impact on mathematics in primary and a flow-on effect in high school."
Janine Sprakel, the schools program manager at the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, was cautious. "Most people in year 11 or 12 still aren't sure what they want to do," she said. "I want someone who is competent, has good pedagogy and an enthusiasm to pass onto kids and parents."
But the head of the NSW Deans of Education, John Fischetti, said universities were unconvinced there was a problem that needed to be solved. He said education degrees involved courses in maths and numeracy, as well as the numeracy exam.
"We would need to create a plan to grow more secondary maths teachers to teach these extra HSC maths students," he said. "There is already a shortage of secondary maths teachers in NSW and this requirement would exaggerate this problem."
He warned the proposal "in the short run could create a primary teacher shortage if put in place too quickly as students from year 10 on have not prepared to take these HSC courses."