Australia’s Best Teachers: Fixing our maths, science teaching ‘crisis’

Two in five Australian students are learning maths from teachers without formal qualifications in the subject. Here’s what our universities are doing to fix the out-of-field teaching emergency.

Two in five Australian high school students are learning maths from teachers without formal qualifications in the subject.

But universities are boosting teachers’ skills through new short courses – and are calling for support to rapidly expand them to tackle the nationwide issue.

News Corp has this week launched the third year of its Australia’s Best Teachers advocacy series to celebrate the positive impact educators have and tackle workforce challenges in our schools.

This year’s series is presented in partnership with Officeworks, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, Education Perfect and Big Ass Fans.

Teachers around the country, through no fault of their own, are being forced to teach subjects outside their areas of expertise due to workforce shortages.

St Paul's Anglican Grammar School (Warragul VIC) teacher Kat Crow is a “jack of all trades” and has recently completed Southern Cross University's out-of-field maths teaching course. Picture: Supplied

A 2024 report by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute found maths was taught by out-of-field teachers 40 per cent of the time.

And the most recent Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership workforce survey found 20 per cent of maths teachers, 29 per cent of technology teachers and 11 per cent of science teachers had no formal qualifications in those areas.

Out-of-field teaching in the mathematics key learning area (KLA), per AITSL's Australian Teacher Workforce Data portal.

Southern Cross University and Charles Sturt University have each developed microcredentials to upskill out-of-field teachers in maths, trialling them on pilot cohorts.

Maths lecturer and Southern Cross course co-ordinator Lewes Peddell said out-of-field teaching had reached a “crisis point” where thousands of students went from years 7 to 10 without being taught by a teacher with a maths degree.

Dr Peddell’s 350-hour course is designed to upskill teachers and improve their “confidence and competence” in six main areas of the maths curriculum.

“We have to remember that these are qualified teachers – they’re just not qualified in mathematics, so it’s about finding ways to bridge what they know from their own discipline areas into teaching maths,” he said.

Dr Lewes Peddell. Picture: Southern Cross University/Supplied

“This micro-credential is a drop in the bucket, but it is a drop.”

Mathematical Association of NSW executive director Darius Samojlowicz said out-of-field teaching had become so common that he “quite regularly” encountered non-maths-trained teachers who have become head of their school’s maths faculties.

“We can’t solve this problem overnight but we can support those teachers who are in this situation right now,” he said.

Ms Crow believes out-of-field teachers bring as much professional expertise as their in-field colleagues, but extra support is welcome. Picture: Supplied

Dr Janelle Hill coordinates a short course for out-of-field teachers at Charles Sturt.

“There’s an overall teacher shortage and a very unequal distribution in regional and rural and remote communities,” she said.

“It’s a tricky one to solve, but something like this microcredential is making a big difference.”

Kat Crow, head teacher at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School in rural Victoria, said she benefited enormously from the Southern Cross course after feeling “like a unicorn” among maths teachers.

Ms Crow said teachers must be given the time – and money – to access such programs.

“If I didn’t have the school assist me with that, I may or may not have been able to make that choice,” she said.

Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe said STEM graduates were in high demand in the broader economy, so teaching needed better pay and conditions to attract more into the profession.

The federal government’s $18.5 million micro-credential trial, which includes a range of qualifications besides teaching, will end in June 2026.

Education Minister Jason Clare said both student teacher training reform and support for current teachers was needed.

National AEU president Correna Haythorpe. Picture: Chris Kidd

“Part of turning this around is improving teacher training at university to make sure teaching students are taught the fundamentals about how to teach children to read and write and do maths and how to manage disruptive classrooms,” he said.