The Australian Education Union not only backs new literacy and numeracy tests for qualified teachers, but also wants entry scores for education degrees raised and the qualification time increased.
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Union ACT branch secretary Glenn Fowler said the announcement by ACT Education Minister Joy Burch that she would only hire new ACT Government school teachers who were in the top 30 per cent of the general population for literacy and numeracy achievement was an important step forward in recognising the value of the teaching profession.
But he said the federal government had a role to play in supporting teacher qualifications and status and the union was lobbying hard for the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank for education degrees across the country to be raised to 70.
According to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, incoming teaching undergraduates who were in the top 30 per cent of ATAR recipients stood the greatest chance of success in completing their degrees.
It is this same research which underpins Ms Burch’s decision to hire graduates who placed in the top 30 per cent for literacy and numeracy.
Ms Burch has asked her directorate to devise a new testing regime by the first quarter of this year so she could make a decision on how the new tests would operate by mid-year and have them in place to assess next year’s teacher recruits.
Mr Fowler said the ACT was on the right track, although the union was seeking to work with the directorate in implementing any new tests.
He said the greater concern was the potential for teacher professionalism to be wound back federally.
At the AEU’s federal conference over the weekend, ATAR cut-off of 70 was referred to the union’s advisory committee, as was capping total teaching enrolments across the country – informed by workforce planning across the states and territories – and raising the practicum component of education degrees.
The union also condemned the move by Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne to appoint Australian Catholic University vice-chancellor Greg Craven as chair of the new Government review into teacher training.
Professor Craven has overseen a massive expansion of places into education degrees within the ACU following Commonwealth deregulation of tertiary places.
The ACU has also lowered the cut-off for admission to some degrees to an ATAR of just 50.
Professor Craven has previously stated that ''university cut-offs are as easy to rig as a bush picnic race meeting'' and rejected NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli's call for all teaching students to have an ATAR of at least 70.
AEU national president Angelo Gavrielatos said Mr Craven's views compromised the review before it had begun. Professor Craven, meanwhile, has indicated his willingness to take on the union over the issue, saying “'I would say to the unions: if they succeed in restricting entry to teaching amid a high number of retirements then they are advocating a shortage of teachers and massively increased class sizes,'' he said.
The union also wants the one-year teaching course for graduates of other degrees to be extended to two years with more classroom preparation and practical work included.
Ms Burch said the ACT was circumventing the debate about university entrance standards by bringing in literacy and numeracy testing in the pre-employment phase.
“I can’t control ATARs but as an employer of government school teachers I have a lever I can use to ensure standards are met during the recruitment phase.”
Fowler said it was good to see the ACT moving down this path.
Australia must not be allowed to move down the path of the United Kingdom where half of school teachers are not teachers…but are paraprofessionals put in charge of classrooms”.
“We need a selective and rigorous process to ensure our teaching professionals are qualified and well-trained to undertake the vital job of teaching,” Mr Fowler said.
