Low starting wage among reasons for giant plunge in teaching enrolments
THE number of applications for teaching degrees has plummeted for the first time, with some universities reporting a 40 per cent drop in the number of people wanting to enrol.
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THE number of applications for teaching degrees has plummeted for the first time, with some universities reporting a 40 per cent drop in the number of people wanting to enrol.
Once among the state’s most popular professions, experts say the general “talking down” of teachers in recent years coupled with “teacher bashing” has led to the massive decline.
It comes amid concerns over whether many teachers are smart enough to even do the job as our national education standards slide.
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And the situation has become so dire that federal Education Minister Dan Tehan this week announced a parliamentary inquiry into the status of the teaching profession in a bid to stop the rot. The inquiry will look at ways to make teaching more attractive, take the burden off out-of-hours work and stop burnout among graduates.
“Australia has some of the world’s best teachers and principals, and we need to do more to increase respect for the profession from students and in the wider community,” Mr Tehan said.
Low starting salaries for new teachers — and their inability to ever achieve a high wage — is also being blamed for the drop in those studying teaching.
This year teaching graduates will earn $67,000 in the public system — about the same as an administration assistant with no degree.
Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson admitted the shortfall was worrying. “It’s alarming to see this fall in the numbers of talented and passionate people applying to study to become our next generation of highly skilled school teachers,” she said.
“You have to look at the relentless talking down of our nation’s aspiring teachers by some in recent years — and see this fall in applications in that context. This has to stop. It’s demoralising for teachers and discouraging for those who want to become teachers
“We need to turn this around. The quality of the school education we deliver to the next generations of children depends on it.”
Across Australia the number of applicants offered a place on a teaching course at university fell by 11.4 per cent across this year.
Professor Tania Aspland, president of the Council of Deans of Education, said the Australian Catholic University and The University of Western Sydney had seen the biggest drops in student enrolments. “In some universities there was a decline of up to 40 per cent in applications for teaching degree courses between 2015 and 2017,” Prof Aspland.
She said “teacher bashing” was a factor in the drop in applications and as a result the profession’s public image had suffered.
Professional Teachers Council executive officer David Browne said he could understand why people were being turned off teaching. “There is a constant focus on what is wrong, what is broken, what needs to be fixed and society is hearing that all the time,” Mr Browne said.
He said young people thinking about teaching would talk to their current educators.
“They would be talking to people who are currently in the role and there would be teachers out there saying: ‘I would really think about it before you start’,” he said.
State Education Minister Rob Stokes said he was open to finding innovative ways to attract the very best teachers but he wouldn’t sacrifice on quality for quantity.
NSW has introduced new criteria requiring those wanting a job in the public system to have a credit average from their university studies and they must also demonstrate superior emotional and cognitive intelligence.
Sydney Montessori School teacher Robyn O’Neill came to the profession later in life and said it is the hardest thing she has ever done.
“I think it is a very undervalued profession financially and I think that there are a lot of expectations placed on teachers,” she said.
“It is ridiculous that someone who has a degree is earning less than a tiler who did an apprenticeship. Potentially we have a lot of emotional and mental issues dealing with children. There are life and death issues, and there is a huge responsibility on teachers to do a good job.”