‘Crisis building for years’:half of teachers plan to leave profession as shortages bite

More than half of NSW teachers plan to quit in the next five years as the profession sounds the alarm over chronic staff shortages leading to merged classes and students missing out on vital lessons.

A survey of 8600 teachers commissioned by a NSW parliamentary inquiry committee found almost 60 per cent have plans to leave the profession in coming years,with the vast majority rating workload,the diminished status of teaching and salary as the major factors contributing to shortages.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into teacher shortages will begin on Thursday.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into teacher shortages will begin on Thursday.iStock

About 65 per cent of all respondents said that in the past two years classes have been taught by out-of-field teachers – those without expertise in the subject – with acute shortages hitting science and maths.

In one submission to theinquiry,which is due to start on Thursday,a Hunter Valley high school teacher said maths classes had been taught for two years by non-specialist teachers.

“At one point we found an 83-year-old from Victoria who came to help us out for six months while we continued our search. Both in 2020 and 2022 we have had to collapse classes and reduce allowances mid-year as we were unable to fill positions across the school,” read the submission.

The results underscore the depth of the teacher shortage crisis,NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said.

Schools are finding it increasingly difficult to fill absences and vacancies,with children “left in school halls,playgrounds and libraries under minimal supervision”.

“Out of field teaching is widespread across a number of subjects including history and English,and it’s not limited to maths and science. There is evidence of significant disruption caused by merged and split classes impacting thousands of students every day. It’s frightening to think where we will be in five or ten years’ time,” he said.

Surging workloads and pay are the major flashpoints in the industrial relations dispute between teachers and the NSW government,with thousands of public and Catholic school teacherswalking off the job twice this year.

The latest NSW Department of Education data shows that instances of merged or uncovered classes are worse in regional and rural areas:at Canobolas Rural Technology High School in Orange there have been more than 1500 merged or uncovered classes in the past six months. At Merriwa Central School in the Hunter region there has been almost 4000 instances of minimal and merged classes since the start of 2021.

Lauren McKnight,vice president of the Science Teachers Association of NSW,said a survey of more than 300 NSW science teachers conducted in June found eight in 10 science classes were taught by teachers without expertise in the subject.

“We are going backwards. We are jeopardising the future of the STEM workforce and it’s a vicious cycle. We can adjust policy to train mid-career professionals,but this is not an immediate solution,” McKnight said.

Their survey found 48 per cent of respondents said there was at least one permanent vacancy for science teachers in their school,and 84 per cent of respondents said that science classes had been taught by a non-science teacher in the week they were surveyed.

“Evidence shows the teacher shortage crisis has been building for years. The pipeline of new teachers entering the profession is inadequate,and attrition rates are high,” the Science Teachers Association’s submission said. “Out of field teaching is common,and particularly problematic in science and STEM subjects,which require significant subject matter expertise.”

McKnight said major reforms were needed,including reducing administration and workloads of teachers,combined with additional funding for schools to access lab tech and administration staff.

In another submission,a head teacher at a northern beaches public high school said:“I have been teaching for nearly 15 years and have never seen a teacher shortage like the one we are currently experiencing. On a regular basis we have senior classes uncovered and at times have junior classes collapsed as we cannot find enough casual teachers,” they said.

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the median tenure for teachers is 11.4 years,which is the second highest in the public service in NSW.

“The government has spent a lot of time listening to the workforce so that we can address the root causes of teachers’ workload. They have told us that the number one issue is lesson planning and providing students with quality resources – something we are addressing,” she said.

The minister said she would continue talking to and working with teachers to solve these issues.

The state government’s teacher supply strategy was announced last year in a bid to attract 3700 extra teachers over 10 years,including plans to poach teachers from overseas and spot regional students suitable for the profession while they are still in high school.

Federal and state education ministers will meet in August to discuss a national approach to tackling the teacher shortage and a potential overhaul to training.

Labor Member of the upper house education committee,Courtney Houssos,said NSW schools are continually having to combine classes and run “supervised playground time” instead of lessons due to teacher shortages.

“In addition to this,22 per cent of maths teachers and 1 in 5 English teachers are teaching outside of the subject area they have been trained in,” she said.

From term 4,teachers in NSW will be given curriculum lesson plans,texts and learning materials in a bid to ease the pressure of rising workloads as the profession struggles to find enough time to prepare classes.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights.Sign up here.

Lucy Carroll is education editor of The Sydney Morning Herald. She was previously a health reporter.

Most Viewed in National