One in three Australian teachers leave within their first five years, a crucial issue at the heart of a federal government inquiry into the status of teaching in Australia in 2019.
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Keeping teachers is now a factor in the looming teacher shortage all education authorities are tackling.
Submissions to a federal inquiry holding public hearings in Brisbane next week reveal a host of complaints, from pay packets to an "obsession" with testing.
State Education Minister Grace Grace agreed the high proportion of teachers departing was a major problem.
Queensland is faring better than the national average on that front, with one in six teachers leaving the profession before five years.
"Analysis by the Queensland College of Teachers indicates that around 14 per cent of new teachers leave the profession within four years," she said.
"There are many reasons, both professional and personal, why a teacher may choose to leave the profession after such a short time."
Ms Grace said Education Queensland’s retention rate was better than national figures.
"The Department of Education is an employer of choice because we recognise and support our teaching staff throughout their career and offer diverse and interesting career and geographical placements in some of the most beautiful locations the state has to offer."
The Queensland College of Teachers, in its submission, reported scholarly articles showing "between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of Australian teachers leave the profession within the first five years".
The "perception" of the teaching profession was the problem.
"The importance of extended high-quality induction and [career] mentoring for reducing early-career teacher attrition is well known," the QCT submission noted.
"Instead, it is likely that deeper change targeting perceptions and mindsets about the profession and education is needed."
Earlier this year Queensland Teachers Union president Kevin Bates said 7000 new teachers were needed within a decade because enrolments in Queensland were increasing by 6 per cent, almost double the average increase.
He said Queensland teaching authorities "had to remain focused" as several issues combined to create "almost a perfect storm".
"I agree that we have some things in place, but when you look at the southern states they have just gone down the path of introducing minimum entry standards for teachers," he said.
More than 80 submissions had been made to the inquiry, from organisations including the union and teachers college, the University of Queensland and Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel, a former Chancellor of Monash University.
Many submissions noted a challenge was the perception of the career, while others asked for help with student discipline.
The QTU added that wages at the introductory levels in teaching needed to lift to keep the less-experienced among Queensland’s 46,000 teachers.
It expressed concern at the declining percentage of male teachers, particularly noting that many female teachers left to start families.
Australia-wide, male teachers in secondary schools dropped from 55 per cent in 1980 to 40 per cent in 2016.
In primary schools, the percentage of male teachers dropped from 30 per cent in 1980 to 18 per cent in 2016.
In Queensland, by August 2018 only 14 per cent of primary school teachers were men.
Queensland Estimates hearings in 2018 heard of 50,000 teachers: “842 Queensland state school teachers had resigned, 832 teachers had retired and 14 staff were sacked in 2017-18.”
That is equivalent to about 3.4 per cent of the profession in 2017-18, or about 14 per cent over the past four years.
The Queensland Teachers Union's submission argued there was a perception teachers were undervalued and overworked.
“Teachers are subject to many negative perceptions which impact not only how others see them but how they see themselves,” the QTU noted.
“Their work is often undervalued and the perception that teachers are overworked and underpaid serves as a career disincentive for some.”
The union listed "micromanagement of teachers", an obsession with "standardised testing that undermines professional expertise" and an "overwhelming tendency to report negatively on the profession" as major perception problems.
The growing tendency to appoint first-time teachers on a contract basis was another concern.
"It often takes several years to secure a permanent position," the QTU submitted.
"This is detrimental to the teachers involved, especially given they face the least job security of their teaching career at a time when they are most financially vulnerable – as recent university graduates."
Dr Finkel told the inquiry there needed to be more recognition of professional qualifications for science, technology and mathematics to encourage the status of teachers.
"All jurisdictions require teacher professional learning to align to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, but there is no national requirement for teachers of STEM subjects to undertake a minimum amount of professional learning in discipline-specific content," Dr Finkel wrote.
