Two key reasons early career teachers are ‘leaving in droves’

Young teachers feeling the pressure to learn the ropes in the classroom are leaving the profession in droves, one study suggests.

It’s been reported as many as 40 per cent of early career teachers are leaving within their first year. 

Australian Education Union’s Meredith Peace explained on 3AW Breakfast why the profession wasn’t seen as a long-term one by some.

‘There are a variety of reasons for that,’ she explained.

‘The two key (reasons) in their initial years relate to insecure employment, many are employed on fixed term contacts and also the workload issues associated with teaching,’ she said.

‘Not having that secure employment it means they have difficulty getting personal loans through bans, mortgages through banks to buy houses, because they don’t have secure employment.’

Audio: Australian Education Union’s Victorian Secretary Meredith Peace