It has become abundantly clear that the unqualified face low pay and reduced job opportunities. Some sort of university qualification is now essential for those planning a " career , but gaining a degree does not guarantee a job. It is estimated that there are 47,000 qualified teachers in New South Wales who are unable to find a permanent job in the teaching profession.
A few calculations on the back of an envelope bring clarity to this problem. The state teaching payroll amounts to 49,000 teaching positions spread over primary and secondary schools. Because of retirement and resignations the state hires about 2,200 freshly minted job applicants to fill these positions, but the universities churn out 7,500 new teachers each year.
It is obvious that teaching is an over supplied market and the sad thing is that those who complete their university training are saddled with an education debt that will still need to be repaid, even if they never actually get to face a class in a classroom.
Teaching is a traditional career opportunity. It tends to attract more women than men and many see this as denying boys the role opportunities now exacerbated by many single parent households. Unfortunately the tertiary admission ranking at universities has slipped to a low of just 60 and in an attempt to raise the standards it it in the process of being raised to 80. While we have a mass of qualified but unemployed teachers, we also have a critical shortage in some teaching categories.
Many schools are crying out to fill positions teaching mathematics, science, engineering or industrial technology. Opportunities are there for teachers who train to specialise to fill these gaps and that usually means more time at university to gain the necessary knowledge.
It seems quite clear that we have an over supply in the area of general teaching and the universities need to overhaul their curriculum to branch students into speciality at a far earlier time in the learning process. It is also evident that those choosing a teaching career need to be more specific about just what career path they intend to follow. Education is emerging as a profession with its own areas of speciality, just like many other disciplines. For instance law. It is common for lawyers to choose a specific area in which to practice - such as merger and acquisitions, criminal law, tort, legal defence or domestic affairs. The medical profession also tends to specialise in treating individual areas on the human body.
This whole concept of teaching is undergoing change. In a distant age when a teacher achieved the necessary qualification little changed for their entire teaching career. They developed an individual style of delivery and they were judged on the success of those entrusted to their care when they entered the job market. Little effort was made to judge teaching by proficiency.
We are fast reaching the stage where excellence will be recognised - and rewarded. Despite opposition from the teaching unions schools are enterering a competitive era where they will vie for students on the basis of their teaching reputation. Teaching standards will have a bearing on both the career prospects and renumeration of those that graduate from their care - and they will be judged accordingly.
That old " one size fits all " approach to university training is no longer relevant !
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