Thousands of special permits issued to fill nationwide teacher shortage

The teacher shortage is still biting in Australian schools, with many dependent on newly qualified and yet-to-be-qualified staff to fill positions.

The crisis has eased since a post-COVID peak, but a majority of principals say their schools are short-staffed. The problem is worse in rural and remote areas.

An international survey published last year found 58 per cent of Australian principals say they have a shortage of teachers in their school — more than double the OECD average.

NSW is short around 962 teachers, while Victoria is currently advertising 1,711 school jobs. 

In Victoria, 1,347 people have been granted special Permission to Teach status to fill positions where registered teachers could not be found.

South Australia has issued 163 teachers with a Special Authority to Teach.

Last year, Queensland granted 1,294 Permission to Teach authorities.

"In my school, that was the only way we were surviving," said Chris Smith, who, until last year, was a deputy principal at a Queensland public school. He now works for the state's teachers union.

He says his former school relied on undergraduates who had been granted a Permission to Teach authority.

"And that's hugely challenging for them, and their schools try their best to support them, but it is a huge, huge challenge."

Queensland's education department says it has a 2 per cent vacancy rate and is trying to attract more teachers with incentives such as subsidised accommodation, relocation packages and retention payments for experienced teachers.

Schools in lower socio-economic areas are generally harder to staff, although the problem is not uniformly spread.

There are just 16 vacancies reported in the Northern Territory public schools.

Meanwhile, some schools have resolved their staffing problems.

Elizabeth Macarthur High School, in Narellan Vale, has filled 35 vacant positions in two years.

"We had to do some quite extreme measures, including combining classes and taking out walls."

It was one of 111 NSW schools placed on an "intensive support" list where positions could be advertised with a recruitment bonus of up to $20,000. It has helped reduce NSW's teacher shortage from a peak of 3,000 vacancies.

"It's a game-changer," Ms Hedger said.

The school has also recruited former students while they study teaching at university. 

Sixteen former students work part-time as support and administrative officers while they study teaching. Eight of the school's permanent teachers are also ex-students.

Homecoming

Science teacher Dean Boss, 25, graduated from the school in 2017. He is now teaching current HSC students.

"Some new students find out I went here, and they're like, 'Hey, why'd you come back?' I'm like, 'I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the staff here. They're friendly, they're nice, they help people.' The whole culture of this place is very supportive."

In 2022, NSW was short 2,460 teachers.

Jo Lampert, from Monash University's School of Education, says the numbers have improved.

"We've stopped some gaps, I think, by focusing on supply. So more teachers are going into teaching, but that raises its own issues, and we now have a very inexperienced early career teaching workforce," Professor Lampert said.

In a national survey released this year, 47 per cent of young teachers thought they would eventually leave the profession, with another 40 per cent unsure of their career intentions. 

Just 13 per cent thought they would stay until retirement.

Meredith Peace, deputy president of the Australian Education Union, says workload stress is a major problem for younger teachers.

"Our newer teachers feel unprepared when they come into the classroom to deal particularly with the complexity and diversity of students that they have in the classroom."

Mr Boss says the workload is high.

"It's not 9-3. Before school, I do morning classes, I do offline classes to teach seniors as well. You're constantly working. 

"When I go home, I plan lessons the next day, get on my resources, do marking.

Ms Hedger says her school uses senior teachers as mentors to help the younger staff.

"The attrition rate for young teachers is pretty high," she said.

"So if you can get them comfortable in the classroom and get their classroom management under control quickly, that gives them much better efficacy in their classroom, which makes their job a lot easier and a lot more pleasant."

Her school has a "Grow Your Own" program to encourage current students to come back to the school as teachers.

Sixteen-year-old Kayla Marchant has not yet graduated — and is planning on returning to the school to work. She has dyslexia and wants to help other children with learning difficulties.

"It won't be a problem going home and doing extra work," she told 7.30.

"I've seen all these teachers that are so passionate about it, I don't think it's going to be a problem. If I'm passionate about what I'm going to do, I'm going to do it well."

Victoria's education department says its school staff numbers grew by 5.4 per cent last year, and student-to-teacher ratios have improved.

Western Australia's education department did not provide numbers of job vacancies or teachers with special permissions to teach, but said it was hiring more staff through international recruitment and through financial and other incentives.

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