Engineers call for higher pay for maths teachers

Engineers want maths teachers to be paid bonuses, warning the economy will suffer unless more teenagers study mathematics.

Engineers Australia’s Chief Engineer Jane MacMaster.

Engineers want maths teachers to be paid bonuses, warning of a “ticking time bomb’’ for Australia’s economy unless more teenagers study mathematics in high school.

Engineers Australia chief ­engineer Jane MacMaster said she was alarmed to learn that up to 40 per cent of Australia’s maths teachers are not trained to teach the subject. She said it was “not right’’ that physical education teachers without mathematical knowledge were teaching maths or design and technology.

“If teachers aren’t qualified in maths, I find that really alarming,’’ she said. “Anyone who may teach mathematics or is appointed to a maths teaching role needs to be qualified in maths.

“It’s no surprise that the rate of students choosing to study maths is falling if 40 per cent of teachers aren’t trained in maths.’’

Engineers Australia Chief Engineer Jane MacMaster.

Ms MacMaster said she was concerned that the proportion of Year 12 students studying the highest level of mathematics had dropped below 10 per cent for the first time. New data from the Australian Mathematical Sciences ­Institute reveals that just 9.2 per cent of Year 12 students enrolled in specialist maths in 2020 – down from 11.6 per cent in 2008.

Only 17.6 per cent studied intermediate mathematics in 2020 – a sharp drop from 23.3 per cent of students in 2008. Together, the proportion of Year 12 students who studied intermediate or ­advanced mathematics fell from 34.9 per cent in 2008 to 26.8 per cent in 2020.

Ms MacMaster said the issue was a “ticking time bomb’’ for the economy. “The system is broken, and unless we take immediate ­action to fix it the consequences are likely to be disastrous for Australia,’’ she said.

“As Australia transitions from a resources-based economy to one that is technologically based, the skills required to create and find work will be significantly STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) based.

“We are already experiencing a significant skills shortage that is threatening not only our Covid ­recovery but our future prosperity.

“If we don’t act now, Australia will be left behind.’’

Ms MacMaster said Australia would need 40,000 more engineers within three years, yet only 7500 graduated from university each year. “Already 60 per cent of the engineers working in Australia are skilled migrants,’’ she said. “We will continue to see project delays and unfulfilled opportunities in modern manufacturing, sovereign supply chains and our zero (carbon) emission targets.’’

Ms MacMaster said maths teachers should be paid extra to lure more qualified mathematicians into classrooms. She said governments must ensure that “teachers are paid a salary that ­attracts high-calibre people to the profession’’.

“If we’re finding it hard to get qualified people to be teachers, then remuneration has to be one policy lever,’’ she said.

“If not a bonus, maybe some sort of other financial incentive, perhaps reducing HECS (higher education loans) contributions for studying teaching.’’

Teachers and engineers earn a similar salary of about $70,000 a year in their first job, but salaries for senior classroom teachers are capped at about $120,000 a year. The Centre for Independent Studies has recommended a 5 per cent salary boost for maths and science teachers.

Ms MacMaster said maths should be a mandatory subject throughout high school. She also called for a more practical mathematics curriculum, with less theory and more hands-on learning.

“The maths curriculum (needs to be) taught in an applied way so that students understand the ­relevance of maths to our world,’’ she said.