We need to support more men to become primary teachers

We need to support more men to become primary teachers

Australia is facing a crisis within primary education: there will not be enough teachers to educate the booming population of children coming through.

A report commissioned by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) predicts we will need 443 more primary classes and 10,000 places over the next 10 years in Queensland, and 1,627 classes and 390,480 primary places nationally before 2025.

Yet, this increase in demand comes at a time when there is a chronic problem recruiting teachers – particularly male primary teachers. The gender imbalance is a key factor contributing to a shortage of teachers, which has become chronic and normalised.

Only 10% of teachers in primary education are male. This has remained unchanged for over 10 years. With so many demands being made on primary education in the next 10 years, we can no longer continue recruiting from restricted sources. But in order to address this problem, we need to investigate and face up to the complex and sometimes confronting reasons male teachers no longer choose primary education as a career.