The Teachers Are Blowing Their Whistles!

An Australian Education Union ( AEU )survey of about 1500 public school principals showed that 72.5 per cent of high schools had teachers teaching a subject that they were not really qualified to teach.

Subject areas of most concern were maths, science and technology.

Unqualified teachers were teaching maths in almost 40 per cent of schools.

To be honest, this is not a new situation.

I began teaching in 1969 and it was a problem then - the school needed a person to teach a subject that you were not really qualified to teach, and you had to set about learning how to teach that subject.

This might involve years of part-time study, or months of your holidays spent on holiday courses.

And then, after you have spent months of your own time studying, the school may decide to change the subjects that they offer - and your job might simply vanish.

In my observation, some principals seem to prefer to deal with teachers who are unqualified - the teachers are lacking in confidence and more easily manipulated.

Teachers forced outside expertise, Katrina Jones, Local Gold Coast News, goldcoast.com.au, 31 October, 2009.

Jane Whittred, an art teacher from Tallebudgera Valley, says that private schools also employ unqualified teachers.

Teachers forced outside expertise, Katrina Jones, Local Gold Coast News, goldcoast.com.au, 31 October, 2009.