NSW teacher crisis: Educators reveal reasons for quitting ahead of more strike action

Teachers forced out of the profession for the sake of their mental health say they’re “exhausted, stressed and angry”. Here they reveal their reasons for quitting the job.

Teachers are taking massive pay cuts to walk away from the job or accumulating second university debts so they can retrain and quit the profession.

And many of these are those with less than five years on the job.

It’s a reality at odds with the attempts to paint the union’s campaign for higher wages and less classroom time as greedy.

One teacher at a south coast public school said she had returned to studying in preparation to quit teaching for good.

The teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said many of her peers shared her concerns that the job was “unsustainable”.

NSW teachers are suffering under the demands of the profession. Picture: John Grainger

The revelation comes after independent workforce data earlier this year showed one-third of NSW full-time teachers planned to leave the profession before retirement, while another third were considering it.

The permanent primary schoolteacher, who has spent more than two decades in the role, said the decision was several years in the making.

“The working conditions, particularly the inadequate allowance of two hours for planning time during work hours, excessive administration demands and insufficient resources to support students with high needs, contributed to my decision to leave,” she said.

“I’ve tried working a four-day week. I regularly reached out to health professionals for strategies to help me sustain the profession’s demands.

“I agonised over what else I could do instead of teaching during this time. But, fundamentally, I still enjoyed the core work of teaching my students and working collaboratively with my colleagues.”

The teacher said Covid had hastened her decision to leave but not just because of home learning.

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said stress among teachers was at its highest ever level. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Seb Haggett

“After a recent health scare and being fatigued from catching Covid, the decision became simple: My job or my health,” she said.

“I feel it’s unfair that teachers must leave their jobs or work fewer days to lead a healthy and balanced life. But current conditions are forcing increasing numbers of teachers to make this choice.”

Another teacher at a Hunter Valley Catholic high school, who has only been in the industry for four years, said she planned to quit “soon”.

Teachers and supporters rally along Macquarie St on Thursday. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty

“Any little free time that I have I’m spending looking at job advertisements,” she said.

“I’m working out what skills different roles need and how what I’ve been doing can transfer over.

“Teaching’s definitely not what I expected and I see myself doing something else. If I can avoid going back to university and paying for another degree, that would be best for me because I can’t really afford it.”

Teachers driven to the brink by excessive workloads and poor pay went on strike on Thursday, for the second time in as many months.

The historic joint strike by both public and Catholic school teachers went ahead despite the Education Department taking the union to court, demanding fines for previous industrial action.

Some teachers are quitting the profession within five years. Picture: John Grainger

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said teachers were at breaking point, with more expected to quit.

“I have never seen such exhaustion, such stress, such anger and resentment in the eyes of the teaching service,” Mr Gavrielatos said.

“Our teachers and principals are exhausted and they feel terribly, terribly let down and abandoned by a government that has brought us to this point.

“This crisis that we find ourselves in is the result of 10 years of neglect. It is at the feet of the government.”

The south coast teacher said she supported the strike action.

“Teacher salaries don’t reflect the hours worked,” she said.

“To add insult to injury, the NSW Government is not even offering to maintain teachers’ current salaries, offering less than the current inflation rate.

“The joint strike action is justified as the government is not listening to the core issues that teachers across all sectors have expressed repeatedly.

“Young people are not choosing to become teachers, they can see the workload pressures on teachers and that the pay does not reflect the hours worked.

“The disregard the state government has for teachers is demoralising.”

The union said Education Minister Sarah Mitchell’s department was to blame for the teacher shortage. Picture: Gaye Gerard

She said she knew of teachers with varying levels of experience who were making strategies to exit the profession.

“I’ve noticed teachers older than I are working part-time so they can retire in some semblance of good health,” she said.

“Like myself, teachers midway in their careers consider what else they could do. Some are looking for off-class positions, some are becoming relief teachers, others are leaving the profession and looking to retrain.

“Teachers only five or 10 years in have expressed their concern about how they can maintain the pace. They’ve become disillusioned with being employed in temporary positions for their entire career, leaving the profession to gain permanent employment.”

Sarah Mitchell said she was fully supportive of teachers but had issues with the tactics of the teachers’ union.“Our teachers do a great job and so it’s deeply disappointing the NSW Teacher’s Federation think calling strikes are the answer to the challenges the profession faces, rather than working constructively with government,” she said.

“The NSW Government has set out a pay increase for teachers which is the most generous in the country. We have to take a balanced approach that allows us to also build schools, reform early education and work with the teachers to modernise and grow their profession.

“I know our teachers are struggling with the admin burden – that’s why we’re on track to ease their workload and free up time for learning and professional development, by slashing low value administrative tasks by 20 per cent by the end of the year.”

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