Federal, state and territory ministers will develop a national action plan, to be agreed to in December, following a meeting to fix the "massive challenge" of teacher shortages.
Education Minister Jason Clare said ministers heard confronting stories from teachers of 70-hour working weeks, but also heartwarming stories from the profession.
Mr Clare said the national plan would focus on strategies to encourage more people to become teachers, to help prepare them for the workforce and to retain the teachers already in employment.
The first meeting of education ministers since Anthony Albanese's election win was attended not just by politicians but also teachers, principals and representatives from the unions and independent and Catholic school groups.
Mr Clare told ABC Radio National this morning that classrooms were growing, but fewer teachers were available to run them.
"You have more and more kids going to school … at the same time we have seen a drop of 16 per cent of young students going into teacher training," he said.
"There aren't many more jobs more important than being a teacher and we just don't have enough of them."
The graduation rate for teachers is also far lower than for other university students, sitting at just 50 per cent compared to an average of 70 per cent for other degrees.
Mr Clare said ministers would consider paid internships for final-year teaching students as well as early hands-on experience to improve retention rates for university students studying teaching.
He also questioned whether university funding should be reformed, so that funding was given based on completions rather than enrolments, akin to vocational education funding.
He said the government could also consider reintroducing shorter one-year education diplomas, though ministers did not go into that level of detail today.
The NSW government has already backed the Commonwealth government to consider university incentives to attract and improve retention of students studying education.
It is arguing against a national push on teacher pay, saying that should be left to the states — and it's considering an overhaul on pay agreements, proposing to offer $73,737 for new graduates and a salary up to $117,060 for teachers who gain accreditation as a highly accomplished or lead teacher.
NSW has also proposed employing dedicated workers to help ease administrative burdens for teachers, something Mr Clare supported.
The state's Education Minister, Sarah Mitchell, proposed visa fast-tracks for people seeking to teach in high-demand subjects, and possibly even an accelerated path to citizenship.
Mr Clare said it was something he intended to take further at the national jobs summit in September.
Queensland is also negotiating pay rises for teachers, and the education union has agreed in-principle to 4 per cent yearly increases for the next two years and 3 per cent the year after, with potential adjustments for inflation.
Mr Clare said salaries for new graduates were already attractive, but that pay prospects tailed off as teachers progressed in their careers.
"The pay that teachers get when they start is pretty competitive, then it goes up in grades for about 10 years, and then it tops out," he said.
"After 10 years, if you're looking for a pay rise you either have to leave the classroom to become an assistant principal or you leave teaching altogether.
"So we're losing some of these great teachers."
Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said ministers had emerged from today's meeting feeling optimistic, despite the substantial challenge.
"We heard first hand some of the struggles … and some of the glories of being a teacher, and we heard first hand what we need to do to go forward," Ms Grace said.
"It is a breath of fresh air."
Live updates
By Bridget Judd
Key moments from today's press conference
There was a bit to digest there, but here are the key outcomes from today's meeting between the federal Education Minister, Jason Clare, and his state and territory counterparts.
- A national action plan, developed in consultation teachers, unions, Catholic schools and independent schools, will be prepared by December
- The national action plan will include uniform standards around mentoring for new teachers
-
A proposal to explore an apprentice degree model to get teachers into classrooms sooner received "a lot of nods" at the meeting
-
The federal government is looking into more skilled visas for teachers to help with the workforce shortage
- Mr Clare says he also wants to explore potential changes to work visas for international students who are already studying in Australia in areas of skills shortage
By Jessica Riga
Some thoughts from you
I think pay, in particular the lack of growth in pay over time, is a big problem. I know people who considered teaching, and may have been excellent teachers, but disregarded it because the pay just isn't high enough compared to other career pathways available to them. You can't expect the best students to choose to become teachers when it's so obvious from the paycheck that teachers are undervalued. Especially with the cost of living these days, your real pay is actually likely to go down as you get older. — Will
Until student behaviour and lack of respect in the classroom is seriously tackled then teachers will always be in short supply. I spend large parts of my day being sworn at, argued with and generally ignored. No joy in that. — Daisy
Go back the curriculum and teaching standards of the 1950s to 1970s. Cut all the paperwork and reporting and all will be well in the education system. — Malcolm
By Jessica Riga
Today's discussion is 'just the start'
"I spoke to Rebecca West, the former Australian Teacher of the Year who was in the room today," Jason Clare says.
"I said to Rebecca, as we move to the next step, we don't want to do it on our own, we want to do it with you. Otherwise we're going to make a mistake. We're going to get it wrong. We don't want to get it wrong.
"So as we get everyone together, to build muscle on the bones on what we've agreed to today, I want to make sure what we come together to implement is what [teachers] thik we need to do to make it right."
By Bridget Judd
Will the government fast-track citizenship for teachers to help the shortage?
The federal Education Minister says the first step is prioritising visas.
"I want to have a conversation at the jobs and skill summit about a number of things we can do in this space," Jason Clare says.
"I think with international students who are here at the moment.. I'm talking about potentially changes to work visas for international students who are already here studying in areas of skills shortage.
"The type of work visas that we offer at the moment are not as competitive as they used to be compared to what other country's are offering."
By Jessica Riga
'This idea teachers just work from 9-3 is rubbish': Jason Clare
"Of course we want to pay teachers more. It's about salary but it's also about workload, it's about conditions, it's about wellbeing," Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says.
"What was stressed to us by principals was 'don't just think there's one thing here.'
"This idea that teachers start at 9am and finish at 3pm is rubbish. Anybody who is a teacher knows that."
By Bridget Judd
What hope can you give teachers that their workload is going to ease?
Jason Clare, the federal Education Minister, says a lot of lost time comes down to admin.
"A teacher sometimes having to spend time to fill out forms for an excursion, or ordering materials for the art class. It's also about lesson planning as well," he says.
WA Education Minister, Sue Ellery, says the state's recent EBA sought to recognise the issue, adding that other states are also trying to tackle it.
"This is the first time we've been able to engage with the federal government, that has appreciated the issues that we're dealing with."
Victoria's Education Minister, Natalie Hutchins, says a result of their EBA negotiations, "we've committed to an hour and a half out of the classroom, additional, starting next year".
By Jessica Riga
Any chance teachers will be paid more as their careers advance?
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell says her state has been discussing the issue of pay.
"Yesterday we announced our intention to look at exactly what you're asking, which is rewarding excellence and making sure our teachers don't have to leave the classroom to get a higher salary or career progression.
"It does get really hard when you hit that ceiling.
"What we're hearing is that the graduate salary for teachers is pretty good, but it's when you go higher up you hit that ceiling and you feel like you need to move into a leadership role or perhaps into a department to get more money and more prestige and we want to change that."
By Bridget Judd
How do we make sure universities are providing high-quality courses for future teachers?
The federal Education Minister, Jason Clare, was asked about the quality of courses provided by universities, and if more could be done to better train future teachers.
Mr Clare says one outcome of today's meeting is that "we want to make sure that teachers are better prepared for the classroom".
"50 per cent of young people who go into a teaching degree finish it. On average it's about 70 per cent of people who go into any other degree finish it. What is going wrong there?
"If there's things that we do, whether it's prac early on, so they can get a real sense of what being a teacher is, if there's other changes that we can make to let's say 60 per cent of people finishing a teaching agree, [that will] go a long away to improving the situation."
By Jessica Riga
Will the national plan consider funding? Including the cost of degrees and pay?
"We need some reform here," Jason Clare says, adding that what teachers get out of their degrees must improve as well.
"I talked about prac and paid internships. Mark Scott was with us today, the vice-chancellor from Sydney University, but he's been the head of education in New South Wales as well. One of the things we have agreed we want to do, we want Mark to head an expert panel that's going to look at this.
"Now, we won't finalise the terms of reference for that today. We'll work together on what that will be.
"I'm keen to pick Mark's brain, work with him and others on how we can improve initial teacher education.
By Bridget Judd
Will the government consider more skilled visas for teachers to help with the shortage?
That question was put to the federal Education Minister, Jason Clare.
He says it's something he's been working on, alongside the NSW Education Minister, Sarah Mitchell.
"One of the things we've got to do is prioritise visas for teachers from overseas who want to come and work here.
"Clare O'Neil, the Minister for Home Affairs... and I want to thank her for it, has agreed to prioritise those visas. There's a whole bunch of teachers already in the queue," he added.
Ms Mitchell says a teacher supply strategy was released and funded last year, which sought to recruit people from overseas.
She says "we had thousands of people apply".
"We need to go through that proper process of making sure they've got the right skills, they've got the right accreditation to meet the high standards that of course we want from our teachers.
"But one of the concerns and challenges has been that wait for a visa. And I think that's also been turning off prospective people from coming."
By Jessica Riga
Standards around mentoring to be part of national plan
"When I talk about mentoring, I am talking about something slightly different to a master teacher model," Clare says.
"When a teacher first arrives at school, fresh off university, they need a mentor. They need a proper induction process. They need some hands on experience about behaviour management.
"In different jurisdictions and states it's done differently. The review said let's have some national guidelines for that. In principle that's a good idea.
"How do we create national standards around that? That's one of the things we'll look at."
By Jessica Riga
Was there any support for the apprentice degree model to get teachers into classrooms sooner?
Time for questions now.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the proposal, from Universities Australia, got “a lot of nods” and that anything regarding “practical experience early on got a lot of support.”
“That will be part of the action plan,” he said.
By Bridget Judd
NT Education Minister: Complex issues are being faced across the country
The NT's Education Minister Eva Lawler says it was reassuring to hear that the issues being faced in the Territory are not isolated to them.
"Whether it is dragging a kangaroo off an oval in the Northern Territory or dealing with the complexities of teachers... that are facing mental health issues... we understand our teachers are facing an increased workload.
"And that has exacerbated some of the issues that we see around the difficulty of recruiting teachers and also retaining teachers."
By Bridget Judd
ACT Education Minister: 'There has been real hope'
ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry says there has never been an opportunity for "people, for educators, for teaching professionals, for their unions to be sitting at the same table as the federal government and the policymakers".
"So, there has been real hope. We heard it today and we've heard it in the community leading up to this meeting, that they will see some action, a national plan, to deal with this terrible problem that we're all trying to manage at the moment around a teacher shortage across the country."
By Bridget Judd
Tasmania Education Minister: 'We can do better than stealing each other's teachers'
Tasmania's Education Minister Roger Jaensch says he's confident that with national priorities in place, "we can do better than stealing each other's teachers".
"We can steal each other's ideas, share each other's information, and come out with some real solutions to ensure that we're elevating the status of teachers and teaching as a profession in our country, and ensuring that we've got a pipeline of gifted people who can give our kids the best tools for their lives in the future."
By Bridget Judd
SA Education Minister: State, territory and federal governments working in 'symmetry'
South Australia's Minister for Education Blair Boyer says he walked away from the meeting with a sense of "symmetry" across the states and territories.
"The national workforce plan that we discussed, [it feels like] there is real symmetry across all the states and territories about what the problems are, and a real willingness to work together from everyone, including all the ministers behind me, to actually find practical solutions."
By Bridget Judd
WA Education Minister: 'They're not in this because it's a job, they're in this because it's a vocation'
WA's Education Minister Sue Ellery is up now.
She says 2022 has been one of the "hardest of the years of the pandemic for teachers".
"Now, I expect that's because it's the cumulative effect of what's happened. But the second point, which I think can't be underestimated, was from the educators in the room themselves, who described the kind of pressures that they're under.
"And despite those pressures being, you know, incredibly powerful and difficult for them, the sense of vocation is strong.
"So, despite working in intense circumstances, the clear message was that they're not in this because it's a job, they're in this because it's a vocation."
By Bridget Judd
Victoria Education Minister: 'We know that COVID has presented so many more challenges'
Victoria's Education Minister Natalie Hutchins says she knows teachers are feeling "burnt out".
"We know that COVID has presented so many more challenges in our classrooms and to our teaching. Even post-COVID, we've heard today how teachers are dealing with issues that they've never had to deal with in the past, with increased mental health on the rise for students," she says.
"And for teachers themselves, we've heard that people are feeling burnt-out. And we want to say that we are working collaboratively across all of the states to deliver better outcomes for you."
By Bridget Judd
Qld Education Minister: 'We are really going to tackle this issue'
Queensland's Education Minister Grace Grace says she wants to work collaboratively and cooperatively with her state and territory counterparts, and the federal government.
"It is a breath of fresh air. We are really going to tackle this issue. I'm looking forward to looking at the action plan to do with attraction, retention, and advancement, 'cause that's what every child in this country deserves."
