Teachers galore? A brief analysis of the 'Oversupply of Teachers' in NSW

The NSW DEC has deemed the number of graduates over the past decade to be acceptable to meet the needs of its schools, aside from the concerning lack of mathematics teachers (NSW DEC, 2012). In particular, within the primary teaching sector there 'appears' to be an excess of new graduates emerging. The majority of new graduates with NSW DEC will work casually and temporarily via the employment list before obtaining a full time position. Inland NSW again appears deprived in relation to other NSW regions.

In 2012 and 2013, there was a spike in teacher graduates that can likely be attributed to the removal of caps for university places. During this timeframe, 13319 teachers graduated from NSW universities. However, by 2014 the DEC employment for Inland NSW had grown by only 217 people. Even in the unlikely event that all of these teachers were new graduates; this would suggest that Inland NSW has received 1.6% of available graduates to service 11% of the teaching workload.

Conclusion

The 'oversupply' of teachers in NSW will not continue to exist in perpetuity, nor is it currently a state wide issue. Even if the baby boomers remain employed as teachers for longer, the retirement of this generation is an unavoidable reality. Thus, retirement and population growth will contribute to an increased availability of permanent teaching jobs. The uneven distribution of the casual teaching workforce means that areas such as Inland NSW continue to have high demand for teachers despite the larger trends to the contrary. For our tertiary institutions, this means that course structure and student intake need to be informed by local contexts.

'Oversupply' is a mantra designed to simplify an incredibly complex issue in NSW education. Perhaps the conversation should shift to the distribution and dispersal of teachers across the state. How can inland NSW universities such as Charles Sturt University be accused of using their teacher education courses as 'cash cows', when they must play a critical role in addressing imbalances to the teaching population? The issues of 'oversupply or undersupply' and 'correct and incorrect' are not important here. We must strive to address the problems with teacher employment through deep consideration and thoughtful adjustments at the tertiary level, rather than risking the unforeseen damage that can result from blanket solutions.