Queensland teacher resignations have jumped since the pandemic.
More than 12,300 teachers and teacher aides in Queensland have resigned since 2020, state government data shows.
The number of teaching staff leaving Qld schools increased by 62% between 2020 and 2023.
However, a spokesperson for the Education Minister said plans to boost teacher numbers in the state are “on track”.
Queensland teacher and aides resignations since 2020
Education staff
More than 55,000 teachers and 19,000 teacher aides are currently employed by Queensland’s Department of Education, across 1,264 state schools.
According to the department, the role of a teacher aide is to assist and support “teachers, students and parents with learning activities and administrative duties,” in a school environment.
Resignations
Recent data tabled in Qld Parliament shows teacher resignations increased by 55% between 2020 and 2023.
For teacher aides, this was significantly higher — at nearly 80%.
Education Minister Dianne Farmer attributed teacher aide resignations in part to people in those roles “actually becoming teachers.”
Union
The Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU) described a teacher shortage in the state as a continuing “crisis”.
It said the state’s “chronically underfunded” schools had been impacted by outdated resourcing models.
QTU has called on the state Government to address funding issues, and what it described as “increasing workload demands” being faced by teachers.
Recruitment
In 2020, then-Education Minister Grace Grace said the Government would “employ more than 6,100 teachers and 1,100 teacher aides over the next four years.”
A spokesperson said the government is “on track” to deliver the 7,200 additional teaching staff by the end of the year.
However, Shadow Minister for Education Christian Rowan argues “just 8%” of the teachers “promised” by the government have been delivered so far.
Opposition
Rowan said more teachers are resigning “because they are overworked, under-resourced, and not respected.”
The Liberal MP said the state is “losing more teachers than it recruits”.
Rowan added that declining teacher numbers were impacting students’ literacy and numeracy outcomes in the state.
