John Murray, Surry Hills. This crisis has the potential to affect the quality of education delivered by independent schools as well as public schools. Central to the crisis is the decline in attractiveness of teaching as a career. Teaching is perceived as a low status, unsatisfying, poorly rewarded job with a limited career structure. Few capable school leavers or high ability university graduates seek entry to teacher education programs.
Many experienced teachers retire prematurely, suffering from low morale.
Furthermore, few men are now entering the teaching profession in Australia. An outcome of such a summit might be to separate the professional identity of teachers from the industrial aspects of teaching. Brian O'Donnell, Burradoo. Perhaps these same unions should start looking at the federation structure and emulate it to stem the flow. All NSW Teachers Federation officers have been, or are, practising teachers, so they are fully aware of the issues involved in campaigns and they are elected by the membership, either directly or through elected councillors.