New figures have revealed the rate of early career teachers quitting in their first five years surged to 11.6 per cent in 2021,up almost 50 per cent compared to the previous year.
New teachers are leaving the profession at the highest rate in 13 years.iStock
The data,provided to a parliamentary inquiry into teacher shortages by the NSW Education Department,said that last year,2.9 per cent of first-year permanent teachers resigned,up from 1.1 per cent in 2020.
Year 12 student Campbell Quintrell,part of the government’s 2022 Regional Youth Taskforce,said teacher shortages were turning young people off a career in education.
“I know I would not want to be a teacher based on what I’ve seen ... I don’t think I’d be able to deal with the lack of resources,” he told the inquiry on Friday.
“At my school,we’ve seen teachers cry,had to leave our classrooms because they’ve had mental breakdowns halfway through the class. It’s usually the inexperienced teachers in their first few years that are still trying to find their feet.”
Campbell said he could think of only three people in his year who wanted to pursue teaching.
“Young people are very impressionable and right now,the impression from many teachers is that teaching is hard,” he said.
The teachers union says the real rate of early career teachers quitting is actually far higher because official NSW figures only include teachers in permanent positions. About two-thirds of early career teachers are employed on temporary contracts or casually.
“We are in real danger of losing the future of the profession at a time when we can least afford to with widespread teacher shortages,rising enrolments,an ageing workforce and the number of people studying to become a teacher dropping by 30 per cent,” NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said.
“It is only by acting on unsustainable workloads and uncompetitive salaries that this government can reduce the number of teachers leaving and make the profession more attractive to the high achievers we urgently need.”
But Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the number of teachers leaving the teaching profession early in their careers had remained largely stable.
“It’s all too easy for the inquiry to focus on just one statistic and ignore the fact that only this government has a plan to attract and train the talented teachers we need,” she said.
“We have created a $100 million induction and support package for new teachers,particularly those in more challenging schools,which includes additional release time and mentoring,” she said.
Despite the figures,the department has maintained the resignation rate of new permanent teachers is stable,calling the retention rate “very healthy” in answers to questions on notice.
The data provided to the inquiry showed last year’s resignation rate of teachers in their first five years was the highest since 2008,when 12.1 per cent quit.
Department figures show the overall separation rate – which includes workers retiring,resigning and dying – for teachers of any level was relatively stable in the five years to 2021,when it sat at 4.7 per cent.
However,the rate of teachers resigning rose from 1.3 per cent to 2.2 per cent in the same period.
Speaking at the inquiry,NSW Department of Education chief people officer Chris Lamb said the separation rate of new teachers was higher than the department wanted it to be.
He said the department’s modelling indicated it currently had enough teachers to meet demand until at least 2025.
“But it also indicates ... supply is more constrained in some subjects like mathematics and in some regional and rural areas,” he said.
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