Australia

For at least a generation successive governments, both labor and liberal, have consistently allowed the pay and conditions of teachers to get worse and worse banking on the fact that the people that enter the profession are passionate about it and have been willing to bear the increasing burden because of it.

It has now gotten to the point that all of the people that I know that are now in teaching not only don't recommend it as a career but actively discourage young people who voice an interest in teaching.

For years we have heard politicians voice the attitude "If you don't like it, get a different job" when current teachers push for improved conditions.

Well motherfuckers, you are now reaping what you have sowed for decades.

Stressful training and work environment, long hours, and the pay isn't that great either. This really is the government's problem to solve - and it's probably not going to be solved just by paying people once to complete their degree, it will have to be throughout their career by providing more pay and more support. Which of course means the public will eventually end up footing at least some of the bill - but the alternative, where education is compromised, will end up costing even more.

Teacher of 20+ years checking in. Schools only continue in their current state because of the hard work and good will of education workers. It’s not an endless resource though. If governments keep ignoring problems in schools, they will collapse as people can’t afford to work there anymore because of the financial or mental health costs.

Wage is exactly why I did not consider teaching. Grad salary for secondary ed in Chemistry or Mathematics in WA is 78k. That means you've completed enough chem or math units to complete a degree, and then done teaching on top. The grad salary on the mines is far higher, and with that much math you could go into the actuarial field and make 200k in a couple of years.

Why would I study an extra 1 or 2 years to be paid less?

(To be fair, I did none of the above. But it is why I didn't go into teaching)

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Graduating high school students are continuing to turn away from teaching degrees in huge numbers, early application data shows, as concern grows over “unprecedented” workforce shortages.

The data, provided to Guardian Australia from the Universities Admissions Centre, showed education degrees received just 1,935 first preferences this year, a 19.24% decline compared with 2023 and the lowest rate since at least 2016, when public records became available.

She pointed to teaching degree fees and the burden of unpaid placements placing pressure on students amid a cost of living crisis.

Last week, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, announced students enrolled to become secondary school teachers would have their degrees paid by the state government, in an effort to fill “crippling” staff shortages in the sector.

Data from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment found across Australia annual commencements in ITE dropped by 8% between 2017 and 2020 and completions fell by 17%.

Former teacher and head of tutoring company Clever Cookie Academy, Peita Mages, said her top students were “not looking to teaching” after experiencing the workforce shortages first-hand.

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