30 August 2022 |
Teacher shortage places the recovery of a decimated sector at risk
Australia’s English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sector is finally rebuilding following the drastic impact of COVID-19 border closures, however, colleges are facing further challenges as teachers who were forced to leave the sector because of the significant reduction in student numbers are proving difficult to lure back, placing the recovery of the sector at risk.
The ELICOS sector in Australia lost 77% of its student numbers between 2019 and 2021 and 79% of the student week volume. English Australia CEO, Mr Brett Blacker said “research shows that along with the student downturn, 75 percent (3,553) of the ELICOS sector's workforce has been impacted by the pandemic. Even though a wage support scheme was in place for most of 2020, 35 percent (1,663) of employees lost their jobs during this period.”
“Feedback from our member colleges is that rehiring these teachers is proving to be difficult with many having found alternative employment,” said Blacker.
With the national Jobs and Skills Summit being held in the coming days, it is important to draw attention to the fact the shortage will hinder the recovery. “It is not just the recovery of the ELICOS sector, but with 70% of ELICOS students moving into further academic study post their English course, the flow on effects will be felt in the Higher Education and Vocational education sectors if not addressed,” said Blacker.
English Australia has proposed three crucial structural changes to help facilitate access to increased teachers of English over the short and medium term, aligned to the theme of Delivering a high-quality labour force through skills, training and migration in Treasury’s Jobs and Skills Summit Issues Paper.
English Australia’s proposed measures:
1. Changes to the working holiday visa (visas 417 and 462) durations to promote attractiveness; 2. Synchronisation of Commonwealth and State/Territory skills on demand lists for Teachers of English Language programs; 3. Subsidisation of cost of English Teaching qualifications (CELTA and TESOL) to promote attractiveness to local students.
“These proposed measures would be easy to implement and would have a significant impact in supporting the English language teaching sectors recovery and boosting Australia’s economy,” noted Blacker.