Rebecca Stretton still had a few months left of her education degree when she took on a full class load at the beginning of the year.
"It was very surreal," she said.
"I had sort have had a bit of a full circle moment, having come to high school out here in Mount Isa myself.
"Standing in front of the classroom of kids out here was a really big realisation moment."
The English and humanities teacher at Good Shepherd Catholic College in Mount Isa was one of 491 people given Permission to Teach (PTT) in 2022 in Queensland.
The program, which allows teachers who have not finished their study to take on roles in the classroom, has been in existence for more than a decade.
But take-up in state schools has doubled on this time last year as they work to plug gaping holes in the teaching workforce.
Queensland Teachers' Union principal representative Joel Buchholz said schools had been forced to think outside the square to help address the shortages.
"Schools have had to become more and more innovative and creative in terms of ways that they recruit and are able to get people and retain them in front of classes," he said.
"In the current context schools are looking to explore alternative options to make sure that we're providing a continuity of curriculum delivery to students."
His secondary school in North Queensland currently has three approved PTT arrangements.
'More pain to come'
State schools in Queensland are already short about 500 teachers, up more than 100 on this time last year.
National modelling shows the demand for secondary school teachers across Australia will outstrip graduates by more than 4,100 teachers over the next three years.
James Cook University turns out about 200 teaching graduates every year, with many remaining in regional and remote areas.
Associate Dean of Professional Experience and Accreditation Associate Professor Louisa Tomas Engel was concerned about the shortfall predicted.
"I think there probably will be more pain to come," she said.
"It is not sustainable to have the state of play that we currently have where there aren't sufficient teachers and we're relying on Permission to Teach and other stop gap measures to fill the gap."
Dr Tomas Engel said universities needed to attract a much higher number of students to initial teacher education programs.
"It does take a while to get students through the pipeline so we're not talking about quick fixes," she said.
She said changing the way teaching was regarded as a profession may help attract more people.
"We need to make sure that teachers don't burn out and that their work is appropriately recognised," she said.
"[And] that their role as a professional is really valued."
Concern for student outcomes
Shadow Minister for Education Christian Rowan said with more than 1,000 teacher positions currently vacant or filled by unqualified teachers, the impacts were already being felt.
"Not a single educational outcome target has been achieved across reading, writing and numeracy in years three, five, seven and nine," Dr Rowan said.
"That is certainly a cause for great concern."
But Education Minister Grace Grace has defended the state's outcomes, claiming NAPLAN results were "very good".
"In some cohorts like our three grade threes, and our grade fives, we had some of the best results we've ever had," she said.
Longevity of career
As one of only two PTT teachers at her school, Ms Stretton said she had been very well supported, but admitted it was daunting entering into an industry marred by burnout.
"There is a bit of a culture at the moment where the workload is slowly increasing, but definitely has picked up more so in the last few years," she said.
"With the current climate, I'm apprehensive about the sustainability of it."
Minister Grace said the PTT program was a good initiative to ensure kids did not miss out on education.
"We've got very strict guidelines around Permission to Teach. I think it's a really good stop gap measure because we're using teachers that are training [so] they've got the ability to be in the classroom," she said.
Ms Stretton said combining full-time work and study had been an adjustment, but it had helped fast track her career.
"I believe that there should be more sort of placement or practical experience within our teacher education anyway, so this is really the best of both worlds," she said.
