One in five Victorian teachers leave the classroom within five years of graduating

New research reveals Victorian teachers are leaving the profession for a range of reasons, including “unreasonable parental expectations” and “onerous administrative burdens”.

Unreasonable parents, high workloads and administrative burdens are driving teachers from the profession, leaving more than 11,000 Victorian positions unfilled, insiders say.

One in five Victorian teachers leave the classroom within five years of graduating and more than one third of the teaching jobs in subjects such as languages and digital technology are vacant, government data shows.

The vacancy rate is nearly 20 per cent even in mainstream subjects like English and maths.

Educational experts say these state government figures from 2020 – the latest available – are even more dire now thanks to the impact of Covid lockdowns and the flu.

Michelle Green, chief executive of independent Schools Victoria, said teacher shortages had been compounded by the impact of Covid.

Stressed teachers are being driven away from the profession.

“The challenge is not just confined to the number of teachers – some schools also struggle to find qualified teachers for certain subjects,” she said.

“There’s evidence the problem particularly affects schools in regional and rural areas.

“Many suffer stress and burnout – not just from the challenges of teaching but from onerous administrative burdens and, often, unreasonable parental expectations.”

Monash University data shows almost 60 per cent of teachers plan to leave, or want to leave, teaching in the long term.

The teacher shortage is now even worse due to Covid and the flu.

The study of 2444 teachers by Dr Fiona Longmuir cited workload pressures, burnout and the low esteem the profession is held in by parents, the media and others.

Dr Longmuir said the teacher attrition rate was up to 50 per cent in some areas.

“Teachers are slogging their guts out and not getting to see their own families and hearing dud teacher messages all the time,” she said.

“Every time there’s a social problem people expect teachers to fix it and the first thing parents do is blame the teacher.”

Victorian Principals’ Association president Andrew Dalgleish said a range of factors made it “a real challenge” to retain graduate teachers who chose to leave teaching after just a few years in the workforce.

“Whether it’s Covid or otherwise, the graduates land in a classroom in front of bright-eyed, bushy tailed students and they’re expected to be able to deliver straight away,” he said.

“We certainly don’t see that with other professions, it’s a while before surgeons even get to pick up a scalpel.”

The state government’s teacher supply snapshot shows the although the number of registered teachers is growing, only 63 per cent are working.

It shows there are 6412 vacancies in government primary schools, with the highest no -appointment rate of 14 per cent in Western Melbourne.

There are also 5197 vacancies in state high schools, with the no-appointment rate sitting at 19 per cent.