There are more than 400 courses offered in aspects of teacher training across Australia.

These courses attract some 80,000 students.

In any given year, however, only 7,000 full time teaching positions are available.

We need a way to ensure potential students are aware of the risks of undertaking a degree.

My son is doing a 5-year dual degree with honours to be a teacher.

He is well aware that it will be unlikely that he will get a job as a teacher, so he is doing other shorter courses so he can start a business aligned to teaching.

It is shameful that universities are just pushing kids through teaching for the dollars.

There is not a shortage of teachers.

Universities are just pushing people through teaching degrees because they are cheap to deliver and bring in the money.

Most teaching graduates are "burnt out and disillusioned" as they can't secure a permanent position.

UALK Queensland, Reader's Comment (Editor's Note : I have combined three short comments by UALKQ),  Queensland teacher Kathy Margolis quits after 30 years, letter explaining why goes viral, Brittany Vonow, The Courier-Mail, 5 February 2016

4489 student teachers graduated in Queensland in 2014.

230 were given full-time work.

590 were hired on a casual or part-time basis in government schools.

Teacher glut hits university graduates' job hopes, Natasha Bita, The Australian, 12 October 2015

I graduated 22 years ago.

I was given an S2 rating (the second highest out of a 1-to-6 rating scale).

I sent in my resume to every region in the state and could not get a job for three months.

Then I picked up a three month contract in Brisbane.

Next was a six month contract out west.

I ended up getting permanent employment and served the school there for eight years - loved it and even met my wife out there!

I hear from colleagues in rural centres that they are screaming out for teachers.

Our graduates may need to move out west on a contract - but if they do a good job they will get permanency and will have the time of their lives.

Editor's comment : It certainly will be 'the time of their lives' because they will know of no other life.

Why not go to England and have the time of a bigger life there, travelling the world?

Teachers are really needed in England.

I spent two years teaching in Birmingham when I first graduated in 1969.

I had an amazing time going to balls (real balls, not jokey dress-up balls), dinners and meeting intelligent men with interesting careers.

I felt quite sorry for the young women I saw teaching in remote Queensland schools.

I felt that their lives were being drained away.

Country life in Australia has a lot to offer - but why not have a few adventures and see a bit of the world before you settle down to life teaching in a remote country area?

Peter, Reader's Comment, Queensland teaching graduates heading to UK after failing to land job locally, Brittany Vonow, The Courier-Mail, 29 December 2014.

2080 new education graduates applied for a teaching job in Queensland in 2014.

 230 new graduates were offered and accepted a permanent teaching position.

 590 new graduates were offered and accepted a temporary teaching position.

13,917 teachers are now on the Queensland Department of Education's "active applicant' list, all waiting for a permanent teaching job in 2015.

Queensland teaching graduates heading to UK after failing to land job locally, Brittany Vonow, The Courier-Mail, 29 December 2014.

Recent Australian Council for Educational Research analysis has found -

There is a significant over-supply of primary teachers in NSW and Victoria.

 20 per cent of maths and physics teachers were trained as specialists in other fields (such as English or physical education).

 25 per cent of history teachers were trained as specialists in other fields.

 30 per cent of computing or IT teachers were trained as specialists in other fields.

 40 per cent of geography teachers were trained as specialists in other fields.

 75 per cent of physics teachers are male.

 Nearly 50 per cent of male maths teachers are in their 50's.

Which suggests that -

- if you are a maths or physics graduate

- or are a graduate in another field who is willing to 'have a go' at teaching maths or physics

- and if you are willing to live and work in a rural or remote area of Australia (where the vacancies are)

there may be work for you when these older male maths and physics teachers retire.

Baby boom to stretch Australian schools  , Natasha Bita, The Australian, 11 March 2015

Des Houghton says -

There are eight universities in Queensland churning out teachers who have little hope of finding work.

The latest figures show that 78 per cent of last year's education graduates have now found work with the education department.

But many of these teachers have casual or part-time contracts.

456 of the 2012 education graduates are now jobless - as are thousands of earlier teaching graduates.

Education Minister John Paul Langbroek blames the universities for enrolling too many education students.

"I have written to (the universities) on numerous occasions to make it known that there are more qualified primary school teachers in Queensland than are presently needed," Mr Langbroek told Parliament.

Universities need to learn lesson, Des Houghton, P. 77, The Courier-Mail, 30 November 2013.

Queensland Teachers' Union president Kevin Bates said about 6000 to 7000 of the remaining 15,000 unemployed teachers will be able to get casual or relief teaching jobs.

Teaching graduates face jobs' struggle, Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail, 25 October 2012 : http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/teachers-face-jobs-struggle/story-fndo45r1-1226502721506

More than 4000 Queensland teachers will become newly-qualified at the end of 2013.

Fewer than 150 of these newly-qualified teachers may get jobs.

Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said yesterday the Queensland Government would employ 159 new teachers in state schools next year.

He was not sure how many of the 159 would be new graduates.

Mr Langbroek said the ongoing problem of the federal Labor government model "of anybody being able to do teaching or any course they want to" has created a glut of 16,000 unemployed teachers in Queensland.

State has glut of new teachers, Robyn Ironside, The Courier-Mail, Wednesday 17 October 2012 (approx).

"There are in excess of 10,000 unemployed primary teachers out there that we're aware of. " Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) president Kevin Bates said.

"The universities are offering places to do training when the jobs simply don't exist."

"Federal Government models have meant that the more intakes that the universities have, the more income they receive," Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said.

Universities training too many teachers: union, ABC, 07 June 2012 :http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-07/universities-training-too-many-teachers-union/4057510

This is the third consecutive year that only one in 10 Queensland teaching graduates has secured a permanent job with the Queensland Education Department.

By 7 February 2012 -

2540 graduates from 2011 had applied for work.

 275 had been given permanent jobs.

 894 had been given temporary contracts.

Altogether, more than 12,000 primary school teachers were looking for work with the Queensland Education Department in January 2012.

4,000 other teachers were also looking for work with the Education Department.

Teaching places to be held for high-flyers, Tanya Chilcott, P.9, The Courier-Mail, 15 February 2012.

Teacher graduates scramble for jobs, Tanya Chilcott, P.18, The Courier-Mail, 13 February 2012.

Having come back to the Gold Coast for personal reasons, I have yet to be offered a full time position in my field for the past eight months.

So I will go back to another exclusive Private International School in Asia where quality educators are welcomed and appreciated.

Education Queensland seems to have no clue!

Bill Thompson of Tugan, Reader's Comment 3 of 21, Teacher learns hard lesson in job quest, Thomas Chamberlin, goldcoast.com, 25 February 2011

I've been on the Gold Coast for the past six months, seeking full time employment as a teacher.

Since then, I've only done a bit of contract / relief work.

Bill Thompson of Tugun, Reader's Comment 4 of 10, $1.3b bill to hire all idle teachers, Thomas Chamberlin, goldcoast.com.au, 24 February 2011

Teachers who put in for remote rural service or who are just expecting a job on the Gold Coast ten mins from home need to realise that a four year wait is nothing.

Some teachers have had contracts for six years at the same school and still had to go remote to get a full time job.

DH, Reader's Comment 9 of 10, $1.3b bill to hire all idle teachers, Thomas Chamberlin, goldcoast.com.au, 24 February 2011

My daughter did her teaching degree and her Masters and is still to get a position.

Most of her friends also got no offers.

16,000 teachers are waiting for work with the Queensland Education Department.

 2850 of these teachers graduated at the end of 2010.

  193 of the 2010 graduates have been offered full-time employment.

  283 of the 2010 graduates have been offered temporary contracts, some as short as three months.

  806 teachers who graduated pre-2010 were also offered work of some sort.

Queensland Teachers' Union president Steve Ryan said universities were using their education courses as "a way to boost numbers and get funding".

"If I were to give advice to anyone interested in being a teacher I would recommend the early childhood sector, LOTE (Languages Other Than English) or science," Queensland College of Teachers director John Ryan said.

Robina Cosser says : If I were to give advice to anyone interested in early childhood, it would be that the physical demands of the job may force you to retire early.

And if I were to give advice to anybody who was interested in LOTE, I would say that you will need to be double-qualified, once in your LOTE and again as a teacher.

And that you will need to keep hundreds of children, parents and teachers 100% happy because it will only take one complaint, however ridiculous, to destroy your health and your career.

And not many Queensland principals, teachers or parents have learned a LOTE, so you will have very little support.

"I don't give a sh*t about LOTE.

I don't give a sh*t whether he passes LOTE or not," as one mother advised me.

And to anybody thinking about becoming a science teacher, I would say that male science, maths and computing teachers often email me or ring me, describing their struggles to maintain their sanity in an environment that is not supportive of their logical thinking style.

These science, maths and computing teachers expect policies to be followed.

They make logical suggestions.

And so they are driven out of work.

And they suffer.

They write me long, intelligent emails, struggling to understand what has happened to them.

Ask yourself why there is such a shortage of LOTE and science teachers.

 Too many teachers chasing too few jobs in Queensland, Carly Hennessy, The Courier-Mail, 9 January 2011

90 per cent of all Queensland teaching graduates are left without a job at the end of their course.

I'm one of them.

There is mass over-supply of primary school teachers at the moment.

There are no jobs and most of us are having to return to entry level positions after finishing a degree which was supposed to lead to a career and a better life.

I'm left wondering why I wasted eight years of my life in part-time study - and gaining a $30K hecs debt - when I'm back where I started, working for $450 a week in childcare.

Chantel, Reader's comment 48 of 104, Teacher entry scores targeted in bid to lift classroom standards, Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail, 16 October 2010.

According to figures supplied by the Queensland Department of Education -

In early August 2010 there were 1800 teachers on the Gold Coast teacher relief list.

But there were no full-time teaching jobs vacant on the Gold Coast.

There were just four full-time teaching positions available across Queensland.

Coast uni aims to make it tougher to teach, Thomas Chamberlin, Gold Coast, 16 August 2010.

I have been out of Uni for a couple of years now.

There is a massive over-supply of primary teacher graduates.

There is no hope of getting permanency.

There is no hope of getting enough work to live on.

I went through uni with kids who could not speak, spell or write a sentence correctly.

It was a big waste of four years for many students, racking up $16G+ debt with no prospect of a job or of any security.

The number of education graduates needs to be cut back immediately, and the quality needs to be lifted.

Relief Teacher : Reader's Comment, Coast Uni aims to make it tougher to teach, Thomas Chamberlin, Gold Coast, 16 August 2010.

I am a primary teacher in Queensland and I can tell you that there is a glut of teachers in Queensland primary schools.

After coming off nearly three years of working full time on contract for Education Queensland, I have now had a total of ONE day's relief work this year.

The one and only agency that books teachers for this type of work (the Tracer Unit) has a statement on their website letting us know that schools have their own lists of preferred teachers and work will be allocated to these teachers first.

They suggest promoting yourself to schools but I have had brush off after brush off and no success getting myself on to anyone's list as of yet.

Teacher shortages were spouted when I was at uni seven years ago, and since graduating with the "highest suitability rating", which supposedly gives me the best chance of employment with the department, there has never been a shortage of teachers in Queensland primary schools.

People studying primary education are being misled.

Wendy, Teacher Shortage NOT!, Listener's comment, ABC Radio National Life Matters - Further Comments, 10 March 2010

I am a High School science / maths teacher.

There is supposed to be a critical shortage of science / maths teachers.

I attended a Tracer conference, where school representatives got up and told to our faces that they preferred to have relief teachers with many years of teaching experience and retired from their own schools, so that they had a relationship with the students.

I looked around and saw many worried faces in the audience.

A year later I did a Return To Teaching course of about 20 hours duration.

The lecturer, a member of the Teacher Registration Board, suggested that we go to schools and offer to work for them, FOR FREE, in order to build a relationship in the pious hope of being offered paid work later.

Over the year, I visited many High Schools to present my CV to deputies.

I rarely got to see them.

The office workers, fine hard-working people who want to protect their bosses from excessive demands on their time, took the documents and said they would pass them on.

I know that the task of obtaining relief teachers is routinely delegated to office staff.

They and the deputies have told me so.

Actual principals are at a level way too rarefied, in most cases, to speak to us.

If a teacher cannot get enough experience in five years for full registration, they are struck off the list of registered teachers.

Their training and HECS fees have been wasted.

Bob Prell, Listener's Comment, ABC Radio National Life matters - Further Comments, 10 March 2010

There is a surplus of primary trained teachers in Queensland.

You need to be prepared to go anywhere and teach anything on contracts for a year or two before you have any hope of a job.

If you need regular work to survive this just isn't possible, so qualified teachers look elsewhere for work.

Universities cite the employment rate of their graduates but do not mention that many of the "employed" graduates are NOT employed in the jobs for which they trained.

Jan, Listener's Comment, ABC Radio National Life Matters - Further Comments, 26 March 2010.

2980 teaching students graduated in Queensland in 2009.

By 6 September 2010 -

 423 of the 2980 teaching graduates had secured permanent jobs with the Queensland Department of Education.

1452 of the 2980 teaching graduates had temporary contracts with the Queensland Department of Education.

and -

3000 more teaching students will graduate in Queensland this year.

Queensland College of Teachers director John Ryan said that the oversupply of primary teachers is ongoing in Queensland.

But there are shortages of teachers of secondary maths, science, English, industrial design and languages.

Jobless graduates to learn hard lesson in supply and demand, Margaret Wenham, Higher Education Reporter, p.9, The Courier-Mail, 6 September 2010.

I completed a 4 year education degree last year and have yet to be offered a position even though I have applied for so called 'disadvantaged areas'.

I also know of three other teachers who are in the same position I am in.

Our government needs to pull their heads out of their butts.

Brissy Gal of Brisbane, Reader's Comment 111 of 225, Professionals could be Queensland teachers in six weeks, Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail 21 February 2010

I hold a degree in an industry that requires excellent language skills, the ability to critically analyse issues and a passion for writing.

After ten years in my industry I decided that I really wanted to become a teacher, and so I applied for a graduate diploma in high school education, only to be told that I did not complete enough English literature subjects in my undergraduate degree.

Current professional experience was not taken into account.

Instead I completed a diploma in primary education, was given absolutely no information about the glut of graduates in this field, graduated with straight High Distinctions and cannot get a job.

Comment 138 of 152, Professionals could be Queensland teachers in six weeks, Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail 21 February 2010

I'm a qualified and experienced Science, Maths and English teacher with excellent references and I have never had any major problem - but Education Queensland refuse to give me a job.

Colleagues of mine who are excellent teachers also cannot find work, so we are now leaving the teaching profession.

Kelly Smith of Brisbane, Comment 181 of 222, Professionals could be Queensland teachers in six weeks, Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail 21 February 2010

I'm a qualified secondary English teacher with another "professional" degree.

I have found it impossible to get a teaching job anywhere in Queensland.

I'm really wondering where this "shortage of teachers" is?

Education Queensland is the most disorganised, unhelpful organisation I have ever had to deal with!

I'm ready to take my qualifications to the UK, where they will actually be put to use!

Comment 219 of 222, Professionals could be Queensland teachers in six weeks, Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail 21 February 2010 

I get very upset when I hear about the so-called "teacher shortage" in Queensland.

Education Queensland told us on January 27 2010 that only 800 of the 2800 graduates from 2009 got jobs.

What does a graduate have to do to get a job?

Five years of University to be fully qualified in two teaching areas, one of which is English (there is a shortage in this field, they reckon), first class honours, willing to go anywhere in Queensland - and still no offer of employment.

Harriet Cresswell, comment 220 of 222, Professionals could be Queensland teachers in six weeks, Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail 21 February 2010

Katie, a high school teacher, told ABC Radio this morning that some of her fellow education graduates from 2007 were still unable to find a full-time teaching position.

Others had quit the profession shortly after entering the classroom, unable to cope.

"I know people who did their whole degree, did their prac ... and after two days said 'I can't do this'.

They don't teach any more."

Six week teacher plan "inadequate" , Courtney Trenwith, The Brisbane Times, 22 February 2010

Short-term teaching contracts have a negative effect on teachers and students.

"I have been teaching for about 30 years and have a masters degree in Aboriginal literature.

For 23 of those years I was permanently employed in high schools in New Zealand, New South Wales and the ACT.

During that time I felt valued by the various employing authorities ...

Since arriving in Queensland, however, I have not been able to secure a permanent position, despite my qualifications and experience and a nomination for a NEITA (National Excellence in Teaching Award) from students at one school.

While I have never been without a teaching contract, it is not the same as having your "own" school.

At the end of each school year, being terminated from your position, only to be reinstated often in the same job, is extemely belittling.

As a result, I am now teaching English in a correctional centre, where for the first time in seven years, I feel valued and supported by the people who employ me.

It is sad though that I had to leave the school system, where I believe I still had much to offer, to achieve this."

Donna Goodacre of Narangba, Letters to The Editor, Page 20, The Courier-Mail, 7 January 2009

On Wednesday 3 December 2008 "WSH" - a mature male graduate teacher - made the following comment by email:

He graduated at the end of 2007 with an S1 rating.

He thought that his four years of hard work at UNI were now going to "pay off".

He had trained as a teacher because there was supposed to be a shortage of good teachers.

But he and many other S1 teachers are not receiving offers of full time employment.

Why?

He is prepared to work in Logan schools.

He did all of his practice teaching in Logan schools.

How are teaching jobs allocated?

Where are teaching jobs advertised?

THEY ARE NOT!

Why can't teachers see the vacancies in schools?

Why can't teachers apply for them and be assessed on merit by the individual schools?

When Education Queensland made him no offer of work, he approached schools directly.

He was told that a school did have a vacancy in his teaching area.

He had nominated the district as a desired area in which to teach.

But he was not considered for the position.

How are these decisions made?

No other government department would get away with not advertising vacant positions and considering each applicnt on merit.

So why does "one of the strongest unions" allow this to continue?

Is this a case of "jobs for the boys"?

Student teachers need to be made aware that even if you are a first class teacher, it doesn’t mean you will get a job with Education Queensland.