The number of unregistered teaching students granted early approval to teach in Queensland schools has more than doubled in one year, and is almost seven times higher than the figure four years ago.
Key points:
- The Queensland College of Teachers issued 888 Permission To Teach approvals to people not yet fully qualified to teach
- Of those, 95 per cent were issued to people studying teaching degrees
- The Queensland Teachers’ Union says the approvals show the extent of workforce shortages
The Queensland College of Teachers issued 888 Permission To Teach approvals which allowed people yet to become fully qualified to teach in Queensland schools in 2022.
Almost two-thirds of the approvals went to state school teachers, with 20 per cent in independent schools, and 16 per cent in Catholic schools.
The number has jumped from 363 approvals in 2021, and follows yearly increases from 211 in 2020, 177 in 2019, and 129 in 2018.
The Queensland College of Teachers granted 299 waivers during the first quarter of this year.
It comes as the nation grapples with long-term teacher shortages, particularly in regional and remote schools, and in specialist subjects.
Filling gaps
The Queensland College of Teachers can grant a person who is not a registered teacher Permission To Teach approval for up to two years, if the person meets certain requirements.
They include the person being offered a teaching position which the school cannot find a registered teacher to fill, the person having relevant knowledge, qualifications, or skills, and the person being considered “suitable” to teach.
The Queensland education department said it had launched pathways encouraging people to become teachers, including the Turn To Teaching and Trade to Teach Program, in the past two years.
In 2022, 95 per cent of waivers went to people enrolled in initial teacher education programs, and 47 were approved for the education department’s Turn To Teaching Internship Program, which starts this year.
“With challenges in filling some teaching roles in certain geographic locations and subjects, the department may employ pre-service teachers who are nearing completion of their teaching degree on a Permission To Teach, approved by the Queensland College of Teachers,” a spokesperson said.
The Queensland Teachers’ Union has in previous years said the waivers should only be used as a last resort.
Queensland Teachers’ Union president Cresta Richardson said the use of the waivers, although a short-term measure, was “playing a really important part in educating students”.
“But [the educators] haven’t finished their studies so they have to be supported to finish their degrees, so they can come out into the profession as fully qualified teachers,” Ms Richardson said.
She said the increasing number of waivers showed the “depth and breadth” of workforce shortages.
Retention strategy
LNP education spokesperson Christian Rowan said the state government was relying on non-registered teachers to fill its workforce gaps.
“The state government is failing to comprehensively plan and deliver a teacher workforce strategy that not only attracts, but also retains teachers,” he said.
A Queensland education department spokesperson said the vacancy rate was about two per cent of the total workforce of almost 48,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers.
“These vacancies are filled in a temporary capacity to support continuation of resourcing while they are being filled permanently through formal advertising,” the spokesperson said.
“The balance between teacher retention and vacancy rates indicates a sustainable state-wide position, however supply challenges remain in certain geographic areas and in specific curriculum areas such as senior English, industrial design and languages other than English.”
The Palaszczuk government made a $2.2 billion election pledge in October 2020 to hire 6,100 new teachers and 1,100 new teacher aides.
It said it had hired more than 4,500 new (FTE) teachers and more than 1,700 new (FTE) teacher aides, as of March 2023.
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